From A Different Angle
by Neiize
Summary: As they say, there's a fine line between love and hate. And with Kai's brithday coming up Ray really can't seem to find the love anywhere.But with the help of his friends' piglike stupidity and bad luck maybe Ray will find it after all. KxR; DISCONTINUED
1. I Love Electronics

**Author: **Neiize****

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or anything else that brings in a sufficient amount of money, for that matter. What I do own is the storyline and plot that go on in my story and the occasional OC, but that is all. I write for the sake of writing, and nothing more.**  
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**Warning: **Mild swearing and over-excessive happiness from a certain neko-jin.

**Author's Notes: **I got this idea randomly one day, and just decided to write about it and this is what I ended up with. I do have a basic story line in mind, but I'm not quite sure I have a knack for yaoi. I might continue it, depending on what people think of this. This is a whole new era of writing for me, so please be kind. In any case, enjoy!

Side note: Don't like yaoi? Don't read. Actually, you see that pretty little button on the top left corner of your screen that says 'back'? If you press it, It'll do a neat little trick for you. (Anyone else picking up my less-than-ecstatic feelings towards bashers?)

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Ah, cameras.

The blessing contained within a slim, metal, caging. It can be used for many different purposes: to capture heart-felt memories, and sometimes even video taping worth while happenings. Maybe watching your baby take it's first steps and later on in life that same baby graduating from kinder garden, high school, and eventually university.

But screw all that. Blackmail all the way, baby!

Oh yes, blackmail. The sweetest of all things... sweet. Okay not really, but my mind is racing too fast with all the activies I can now do freely without the all-mighty Kai Hiwatari getting on my ever-so kitty-like case. Take that, you arrogant asshole of a man! No more getting up to train when it's too dark to see anything! No more running more laps than the number of idiots in this country alone! (You'd be surprised) And best of all, no more Russian cursing and me spending more time looking for that damn dictionary than actually looking up the word! And, by the way, if any inconspicuous looking person comes up to you and says "preveenchte vac" or "tupayu shopa" or anything else along the lines of words that sound like someone vomiting while beating a horse _and_ having a seizure at the same time, aim for the crotch then run like hell. Take this advice from personal experiences of mine.

But I bet you're dying to know what I've got that's so juicy and embarrassing that I'd actually think that I'd get that hard ass to obey **my** every command. I bet now you're reading, eagerly mind you, these lines just waiting for an explanation on what I did. I bet now you're getting pretty pissed, because obviously I'm stalling just to get on your nerves. Now I bet that you're probably cussing under your breath. Now I bet you've got a nice little bulging vein forming on your forehead. Now I bet you beat the computer screen in with multiple sized hammers.

Now if you're actually that much in need of anger management classes that you did that last thing, then you should be thanking me for finally revealing your hidden secret because even if you didn't go telling the world after that little psychotic episode, I'm pretty sure someone will find several large hammers sticking out of a mangled computer screen a _bit _odd. So your welcome. Anyway, back to my brilliantness.

I was innocently minding my own business, stalking Kai after his most recent Tyson-induced anger attack. Okay, I know: that "stalking" thing seems kind of bad. But in all honestly, I was being kind and considerate; for the **_rest_** of humanity. Think about it for a second- the guy can be best described as a walking hand grenade. Pull and push on the wrong thing at the wrong time and you could be in a lovely coffin by midnight. And of course, the graceful Kai does not see or sense age. In other words, I wouldn't be surprised if he sent a toddler to the emergency room who would later find out he's in need of a replacement hip and _many_, _many_, **_many_** years of intense and thorough therapy. Blah, getting off topic. So like I said, I followed him: first a couple of miles away from the dojo. Seeing as he was still swearing and kicking squirrels along his way, I sort of got the feeling he still wasn't the content Kai he always is (Oh, look. I made a funny). So then I kept following him until he reached the outskirts of town, with nothing interesting or mental to report. I was about to turn back when I suddenly saw Kai just walk into a _bush_. Just like that. Like the bush was never there, like it was some sort of mirage, like he was some sort of FBI agent hired to spy on internationally-acclaimed beybladers. Like _that_ would ever be true. Keep focus, Ray. Long story short: I followed the guy into this unknown forest, until he finally stopped, dead in his tracks (by the way, this caused me to also stop suddenly, slip on a pile of shit/mud (probably the first thing by the way it smelt) and land flat on my ass. Not that that matters) and then he started mumbling something. Something non-Russian. Something... _cute. _I'll try to mentally recall this as best as I can:

"Pom-Pom? Come here girl..."

Now, cue the adorably cute bunny-wabbit hoping out of nearby shrubbery.

Now, cue it instinctively hopping towards Kai and crawling into his widely-spread arms.

Now, cue me stuffing leaves into my mouth to prevent yesterday's milk from squirting out my nose.

Now, finally, cue me taking out my camera from the pocket of the same jacket I wore to Kenny's birthday party last week. Cue me taking 92 pictures of the cold-hearted bastard. Cuddling with a bunny. A freakin' bunny.

Now, cue me finally getting the chance to laugh my ass off.

After I got home and stopped jumping up and down, screaming "you're ass is mine!" (no pervertedness intended), the first thing that popped into my mind was, as you know, blackmail. But let's have one of my little honesty-sessions here: I know about the time with him petting that stray cat, okay? Again, cameras: wonderful thing. But come on: a _bunny_? One of the cutest, gentlest, fluffiest animals there is on the planet? I could imagine him setting the bunny on _fire_, but _not_ cuddling and petting it. Who would have ever thought Kai to be a sensitive, soft-spoken and all around nice guy? A retarded monkey with a pineapple sticking out of his right eardrum, that's who! Even though I'm brimming with happness and excitement, I suddenly know that there is now an issue on my hands: _I'm _the soft-spoken one, not him! Every person in the Bladebreakers has an obvious persona about them. Tyson's the friendly part-pig that's good for a cheap laugh now or then, and he's the one who helps keep the team together. Everytime we've split up, it's because of him we ended right back where we started. Which is a good thing. I think. Max is the sugar high blond who never leaves home without a smile and skittles. He's always running around with Tyson destroying some sort of priceless object wherever he goes. Daichi is basically the annoying kid who just showed up one day and decided to plant his hairy little butt right here and never move an inch. Literally, the day I see the guy attempt to pick up a duster is the day purple flying cows take over Entertainment Tonight and blame Lindsay Lohan for mad cow. Kenny is the quiet nerd in the back corner who attempts to settle an argument now or then but ultimately just ends up in the corner again. Hillary is kind of like Daichi, but I can tolerate her. She's one of those girls who, ya know... doesn't turn into a pile of mush when she's around us. She's not afraid to speak her mind or make an intelligent comment once in a while, and If it wasn't for her Tyson would probably be walking around oh-natural and giving people within a 5 mile radius detached retinas. And me, well I'm the soft-spoken sometimes blunt one who throws in a sarcastic comment here or there. And Kai is the sadistic bastard with no emotions or feelings for others. 

Don't get me wrong. I really do like my friends. They're there for me when I need them and they make me happy and laugh. At their misfortunes of course, but still, the laughter's there. Oh, but you should know something. When I say friends, I mean the people who don't torture me day and night and laugh at me when Mariah tackled me into that furnace. Not only did I dislocate my shoulder, but I didn't hear the end of it for about 2 months from Tyson and Daichi. Not that I mind the taunting. No, no, no, people. Once thing totally trumps taunting. Actions. As they say, actions speak louder than words. For example, when someone looks at your shoulder, starts to laugh, walks into the basement and you can still hear them laughing, that sort of speaks louder than someone saying "How's the shoulder?" with a slap on the back and a cheesy grin. And if you can't tell who that laughing someone was, it's the negative sack of muscles and organs thrown directly in my direction, every day for the past 3 years. Or Kai. Whatever you prefer.

But enough with that crap. The key thing here? I rule the freakin' universe now! I wonder how I'm going to get this to work. Should I just show him the pictures and tell him to listen to my every command? Should I just secretly jam 50 copies under everyone's doors in the middle of the night and let the torture work itself in? Should I just scream "LOOK KAI PETTED A BUNNY!" and show the world? Oh god, I think I'm getting giddy just thinking about it!

If you're wondering right now I'm in my room, just jumping up and down on my bed. I think I pretty much crippled this mattress, but I can now I'm pretty sure Kai will have no objections to buy me another one. Or maybe 5. Or maybe a whole new house, for that matter. Or a mansion. With a swimming pool filled with gold. In Cuba. Whoa, I should be writing this down! Where's that dam-

"Ray! Get down here! Dinner's ready!"

And that, laides and gentlemen, was Hillary. Breaking me out of my scheming. I'll be sure to accidently spit my gum into her hair later. Right now, I'm pretty hungry.

--- 

"Yo, Max! Gravy!"

"Tyson! Don't be rude! Ask Max nic-"

"Here you go!"

"Max! Don't swing the gravy across the table like that when it's in a glass bowl! That could be dangerous!"

"Yea, you could have dropped the gravy ya dumbass!"

Oh, gee. That's just one of the most intelligent things I have heard today, Tyson.

A little guidance for the peole who are new here: diner is pretty much the same thing every night. Hillary cooks something, scowls at Tyson for having the table manners of a bulldozer, and then I wash the dishes. Believe me, in my mind I'm jumping up and down and doing the Mexican Hat Dance. Note to self: learn Mexican Hat Dance.

Oh, ha, look. Kenny's trying to get them to "settle down". Good luck with that, Ken.

I'm bored. I know I should be eating, but I really don't find horse liver and lima beans all that appetizing.

So, let's look around the table. Max: eating. Hillary: eating. Tyson-

Random thought: what is up the ball cap Tyson wears? I mean it's not hideously ugly or anything (that's the role of his face), but I mean what's the point of wearing it _all_ the time? He always keeps it on a slant so it doesn't keep the sun out of his eyes. You could put his hair through a vacuum cleaner and it would still look like a clump of blueberry vomit, so it doesn't help hide _that _either. It literally has no use for him. All it does is sit on that ever-so-heavy noggin (I'm on a roll today). But for some reason he gets mad when Max and Daichi play keep-away with it. Is there something I'm missing here? Is it made of rare Egyptian cotton? God's morning stubble? I'll be sure to ask about it later.

" Hey, look Hillary! Tyson's sneaking dessert!"

"Am not, rat boy!"

"Well then why is there a fresh fudge stain on your shirt?"

"Because... you're a rat boy!"

And now it seems like Datchi and Tyson are fighting over sneaked desserts, and once again Tyson is using his brain capacity to the fullest extent. You better watch out folks.

Huh. I'm bored again.

Everyone's eating, aside from Tyson and Daichi who are now yelling over a fugde stain that Daichi claims-

Another random thought: why does Daichi have a random patch in the middle of his face? Honestly, what the heck is that thing? It looks like some deformed gapping hole-like thing that decided to attach itself to my poor leprechaun friend's face. Maybe it's some kind of tattoo. Nope, scratch that. Daichi can barely spell "tattoo" let alone know what it is. He'd probably think it's some kind of foreign meat. Or may-

" Gee willikers! Watch out Ray it's coming right for you!"

Huh, did Kenny just say something? Oh well, as I wa- wait, why does my chest feel so stick- ew. Ew. Ewww. EWWWWWW. What the hell is this? Not only is it disgustingly sticky, its brown. It's brown and it's sticky. That sounds kind of familiar...EWWWWW MOTHERFU-

"Yo, sorry man! That gravy sure has some distance!"

Oh, ha ha. It's gravy. I knew that.

"Aw, look what you did Tyson. You should at least help Ray. He seems a bit shaken up."

A bit shaken up? Gee Max, nice job on that conclusion. I thought someone flung _turd _at me. They're lucky I was paying no attention to the real world what-so-ever or I would have done one of my "crazy matrix jumping attack things" (as Max would call it) and probably knocked Kai out in the process, since he's sitting beside me.

Damn, why wasn't I paying attention?

----

I'm sooo tired. I flopped right onto my bed, took a deep breath, and stared at the ceiling, with about fifty different thoughts running through my mind.

Why did Hillary serve us horse liver? How shall I blackmail my dearly beloved team captain? Where did I leave my slinkie? Do we have training tomorrow? Why are the red dots in the ceiling turning into Barney, who then starts to break dance with 50 cent?

Okay, I _really_ need some sleep.

I quickly pulled back the sheets and got right into bed. Ahhh, the blankets are so warm and soft. This pillow seems a bit weird, though. It feels... uh, okay. Random question: is a pillow supposed to feel hard, rough, and flesh-scratching? ...No? Uh-oh, that's not good. Al right Ray, stay calm. At a moment like this, when your sensitive-to-being-cut face might be in danger, there is only one logical and sensible thing to do.

"HOLEY SHIT I'M GONNA DIE!"

**_BOOM_**

Screaming like a school girl, hitting yourself on the headboard and gracefully falling flat on your ass, for the second time today. Real intelligent, Kon. Wait a minute. Before I start giving myself low self-esteem issues, what the _hell _was I sleeping on? I start getting up, but then I realize something that is actually _pretty_ smart.

That thing could be alive.

Think about it. Maybe someone planted some evil, itchy, furry, manical ferret there to hex me! Not that I'm too sure the thing I was sleeping on was an animal... _still._ Hex. Heeexxx! It even _sounds _evil. Oh god. I knew it. Kai saw me. Oh my god, he saw me. Will. Will. That's it. A will. I want a will. No, I _need_ a will. Where the hell did I leave my notebook? I quickly shot up and started to look around the room. Start from the left corner then work your way down. On a chair? Nope, not there. Nightstand? Nope, nothing on it or in the drawers. Under the sheets? Nope, nope. The Pil-. Shit.

**"TYSON!" **

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Read and Review, please. Inspiration is what keeps me going.

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	2. Late Night Interruption

**Author: **Neiize****

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or anything else that brings in a sufficient amount of money, for that matter. What I do own is the story line and plot that go on in my story and the occasional OC, but that is all. I write for the sake of writing, and nothing more.**  
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**Warning: **Mild swearing 

**Author's Notes: **Thank you very much for the reviews. Every single one is appreciated, and I will take into consideration every opinion everyone has given me. Ravenara: Blunt plastic object? I was thinking more along the lines of pure titanium, but whatever makes you happy. Intense Innocence: This is the way I've always wanted to portray Ray as. With a sharp tongue and a quick wit, ya know? I've always thought that he doesn't talk much in the series because he was too busy voicing his mental opinion, and after 3 years he sort of realized that standing in the background with a smile really wasn't helping him get his point across. But in any case, Ray _is_ kind. Hard to believe, I know, but you'll see what I'm talking about in later chapters. In this one, Ray pretty much left that "kindness" in the microwave for 10 minutes and laughed manically while hearing its cries of mercy. But the kindness will come...eventually. I'll make a deal with you guys: if I get more than 10 reviews for this chapter then I'll update within the week. A little mean, I know, but I really do want this fan fiction to go in the right direction. The direction of a lot of reviews, of course.

Enjoy!

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**"AH! I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY! LET GO, LET GO!"**

And that folks was the screams of a beloved and dear friend of mine, Tyson Granger. You may be asking: Ray, why is he screaming in merciful pain? Because I've got the fat cow in a tear-enducing headlock, that's why! Screw horse liver, tomorrow night we're having roast beef!

"Stop Ray! You could hurt him, or even worse break our pillow fort!"

After about doing this for half an hour, your arms start to hurt. So I finally decided to let go of the pig with pants. He fell face first into the ground, but he didn't seem the least bit upset.

"LAND! OH GLORIOUS LAND!"

Drama Queen. King. Pig. Cow. Anyone will do.

"That wasn't funny Ray! He could have gotten hurt!"

No Max. I gave him a neck-dislocating headlock because I was concerned about his _safety. _Damn right it hurt!

"Or you could have ruined our pillow fort!"

And what a shame that would have been.

"Doesn't anyone mind that I'm just, you know, lying here in extreme pain?"

"Why would we?"

"Ray!"

Don't you hate it when everyone is scowling at you for the same damn reason, and when you continue with your actions they all do a name screeching in unison?

"I'm sorry man. I didn't think you'd mind if we took your pillow. I didn't think you'd notice if I gave you a replacement!"

"You honestly didn't think that I would notice that my pillow had been replaced with a _bird's nest_? It still had an egg in it!"

"I thought I ate all of those!"

"Ewww! Tyson that's nasty! Wait, a bird's nest? Didn't the mother bird try to do anything?"

"I didn't have breakfast that morning either."

"...Ewe!"

Come back for more have you? Well, when you decide to leave: take me with you. If you were here a few hours ago, you would know the story. If you don't, this is the jist of things: Ray was tired. Ray gets into bed. Ray asks why his pillow is flesh-destroying. Ray get's scared, screams, falls, and lands flat on his ass. Ray becomes paranoid that Kai was sending an evil rodent to hex him. Ray decided he needed a will. Ray looked for notebook. Ray accidentally looked at pillow. Ray saw a bird's nest. With navy hair caught on a twig. And now Ray is here. With you. Uh...how's everyone tonight?

"Tyson said he was sorry. Now go away! We're trying to take over the world here!"

"Take over the world? With what?" I asked.

"With this!" He pointed.

Now, Daichi was pointing to this... _thing_ in the back corner of the room. If I knew what it was exactly, or if it resembled anything in the least, I would be able to describe it better. Let's just say it consists of pillows, blankets, 7 slippers, a water bottle, a Mars bar, a frying pan, 3 spoons, 2 knives, The Aristocrats VHS, and a whole bunch of other crap. I'm not even going to ask. No, no. For the sake of mankind, I really think I should.

"What the heck is that thing?"

"It's our pillow fort. Duh."

Duh? You do realize that's what my retarded pineapple monkey says as he's drooling into his cup, don't you?

"It's cool, isn't it? We put everything we needed in there in case of war!"

"Why would you need over-sized candy canes during a war?"

"Isn't it obvious? To fight off the Natzis!"

Let's review here: The Natzis have gigantic guns, battering rams, butcher knifes, bombs, poisonous gases, clubs, metal bars, and possibly nun-chucks. And we have candy canes. Correction: **big** candy canes. Honestly, I feel so protected. I also feel like telling Kai he's the greatest guy I've ever met, join the "Osama Bin Landen is great" club, and then discovering the cure for split ends.

"There are no more Natzis. Hitler's evil reign is over, thank golly."

"Yea w-"

And just as Daichi was about to counter Kenny with some retarded "you never know" fact, _he_ walks into the room. You know who I'm talking about.

Well actually, he didn't walk into the room just yet. But I feel it. I've always had this thing about me, where I can sense people from a mile away but if they're right behind me I wouldn't sense a thing. It's weird, I know, but it does help sometimes. I mean, if there's a speeding missile coming from a mile away, I can run right after I finish leading my friends onto the big red "X". Ah, wishful thinking, Ray.

As I was saying, I can sense him. He's walking out of his room right now. He's walking down the hall, passing Hillary's room, and now he's cracking his knuckles. Oh shit. Pass me a candy cane!

"- so then we'd be safe and-"

Silence. 

Everyone starred at Kai. Daichi quickly shut his trap, and Kenny has just turned to face him with a hunched back-stance and a quivering lower lip. Max is smiling stupidly (no surprise there), and Tyson was standing normally, trying to gulp down the lump he had in his throat. As for me? Well let's just say my pants feel a little bit more moist than usual.

As I was saying, he had just been in the room for about 5 seconds. Even though his light grey bangs were covering his crimson red eyes, you could tell there was a frustrated scowl spread across his face. He was leaning against the door frame, crossed arms and all. And to top it all off, he was holding a toothbrush. With a _pointy _end. We're in for it now.

"Keep it down."

And then he walked away.

-wait, what?

He walked _away_? Oh, sure. And right after everyone told George Bush to stop bombing Iraq he really decided to take people's opinions "seriously".

"Are we alive?" Daichi asked, as he peered through his fingers which were currently protecting his face.

Well?_Are _we? What the _hell _was that? Honestly, that would so... unreal. Did Kai actually do that? Kai _never_ does that. Even on his nice days he doesn't do that! So why is it on a normal day like this he's all... passive and crap? You know what the Kai that I hate and loathe with every fiber of my body would do? He would yell some empty yet terrifying threat, curse in English, curse in Russian, curse in Japanese, dismember the closest object, yell at Hillary for feeding us "insert tumor-causing food here", and then storm off. Is anyone else catching the not-so-subtle differences?

Well, it seems like while I was having my mini-mental-freak-out, Tyson, Daichi, Kenny, and Max have been discussing possible reasons why Kai was being... human-like.

"Maybe that wasn't Kai! Maybe it was his evil twin!"

"What evil twin? Kai is the evil one! Do you not remember that time in we were on West Jet and we had a Swedish attendant serving us? I'll never be able to look at peanuts the same way again."

"Maybe he hit his head! He could have forgotten he was a raging psychopath!"

"Chief, he could hit his head 50 times but I still think that tad-bit of Kai's wonderful personality would stay with him."

"Maybe he got laid."

"Tyson!"

Oh, that'd just beautiful. I'm getting some lovely images today.

"Well it's possible! You know how many fan girls him and Ray have!"

Oh, well... that's true.

"I don't think that really means much to Kai... it especially mean nothing to- hey! Ray! Stop smiling!"

I'm not _smiling_... it's more like a toothy grin. Which is actually besides the point. What we should be talking about is-

"IF YOU GUYS DON'T GO TO BED RIGHT NOW I'LL BREAK THOSE DAMN CANDY CANES AND SHOVE RAY'S FANGIRL LETTERS UP HIS HOT ASAIN ASS!"

HOLEY MOTHER-

"Hillary! You startled me!"  
_  
Startled? Startled?!_ I had a frickin' arrhythmia!

"GO. TO. BED!"

No way. Nuh uh. I'm not listening this time! You know why? Because every single time Hillary tells us to start running laps, we run laps. Out of fear. Every time she tells us to eat, we eat. Again, out of fear. (except for Tyson where the amount of times he eats its just about the same as the number for the amount of times he breaths). And everytime she tells us to go to sleep we sleep, out of worrying about not waking up to see tomorrow. In other words, out of _blinding _fear. Once we went to bed at 7:30 because she couldn't handle us when we were in our "demonic sugar rampage inspired by the blonde" mood. And so, we all went to bed. (Side Note: I wasn't even eating the candy! I _hate_ candy. What do people find so appetizing about plastic straws filled with sugar? The brutal and excruciating pain of cavities? Gingivitis? I have a point, people, and you all know I'm right. Hippies!). This time, I'm not listening. I refuse! I, Raymond Kon, swear on my tormented Christian soul that I will not let this woman boss me around. I've got about 3 inches on her. I can scream. I can yell. And best of all, I can punch without feeling remorse! (Getting rid of that stupid conscious was one of the best things I've ever done). This time, I shall rise! United we stand, but singled out we push, kick, and cuss!

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I hate her.

I can push, kick, shove, punch, cuss, and even play a dirty trick here and there. 

But. I'm a man. You see, a man _has_ pride. You know what a man _doesn't _have?

Tear ducts.

Let me explain.

Basically, I decided to grow a backbone to put that she-beat in her place once and for all. So, I tells her to stop being so insensitive and bossy, as she is not helping anyone with that kind of attitude. (Or, ahem-something like I was expecting and prepared for a full-throttle counter, but instead I get a wet shirt, incoherent sobs, and more scary feminine-like things. I basically turned into mush. In other words, I apologized, put on a happy smile, and promise to make dinner. For a _week. _

I'm really regretting not taking yoga, because if I had I would have had the handy ability to kick myself in the nuts. It's not like I have _use_ for them anymore. My dignity as a man went down the drain the second I agreed to cook. Not hat I mind cooking. It's actually relaxing sometimes. But, the house rule is: anyone who cooks has to cook with the safety apron. It's made of some kind of non-flammable material that helps if a fire spreads. In other words, I have to cook, in that filly, pink apron. In that ..."colourful" kitchen ful of "neurotic" males who have nothing better to do than "torture" others. I might as well buy fabric for curtains, use whatever I have leftover to make myself a skirt, and legally change my name to Mary Sue Tinkle puss.

On the bright side though, out of hesterical anger and rage, Hillary destroyed the so called "pillow fort". (Let's see the Natzis do _that!_) Not a big deal. To the inexperienced eye. To someone like me, who has been around for around 3 years now, and as I have been constantly surrounded by leprechauns and pigs and a shit load of estrogen, I know that her temper has actually saved everyone within a 10 meter radius. Living near here? Be thankful. No so close? Send me some plane tickets.

Jesus, I really _am_ tired. It's currently 3:08 A.M., and what's even worse is that I'm pretty sure my pillow is beyond repair. The poor boy never had a chance! See, look at that. I'm referring to my pillow as something that once had a penis. As you can sort of tell, my thoughts are a little less than logical and a lot choppier after 1 A.M. Which is why I'm going to bed.

This was one long day.

And an even longer night.

... Is something chirping?

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Read and Review, please.

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	3. The New Arrival

**Author: **Neiize****

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or anything else that brings in a sufficient amount of money, for that matter. What I do own is the story line and plot that go on in my story and the occasional OC, but that is all. I write for the sake of writing, and nothing more.**  
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**Warning: **Mild swearing 

**Author's Notes: **Again, thank you all for the reviews. 7 reviews damn good in my books. Neko-Jenn, I also thank you for your review. But honestly, If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. And that's the end of that. 

I'm sure you'll agree that buy the end of reading this you'll realize it's not my best work. I sincerely want to apologize as I have a lot of school work, and I really wanted to update for the people who actually read and want to see what happens next. I personally know how annoying it is when an author doesn't update in x amount of months, and at the beginning of this story I promised myself I would never do that. I also know that these 3 chapters in general have been pretty short, but I promise from now on the full day will be accounted for and well-written. (P.S: Please excuse any grammer/spelling mistakes you come across).

Enjoy!

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_  
Beeeeeeeeeeeep, beeeeeeep, beeeeeep, beeeeeeeep, beee-_

Snooze... button... must... find...

_beep__****_

Ahhh... there we go. I groaned as I rolled over in bed and pulled the sheets over my head. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleepy land.

Alright...not really. Seems like I can't get back to sleep. Now Ray, try to bore yourself to sleep by thinking random thoughts...

Stupid Hillary... crushing my pillow... poor head having to sleep on firm mattress... stupid Tyson stealing my slinkie for his pillow fort... stupid Kai for his everything... stupid... uhh...

Okay. That didn't work. Let's try a different approach. Stuff you need to buy at Grocery store:

Uh... let's see... chicken, basil, onions, garlic, potatoes, butter, milk, eggs, cooking oil, corn. And knives, _lots_ of knives. I shouldn't buy then at the grocery store though, they over price them there. Maybe Wal-Mart...

"Cheeaaaaap. Cheap? Cheap. CHEAP. CHEAP. CHEAP! CHEEAAAP!"

What? Cheap?...Oh come on! Don't give me that! At Loblaws they sell a set for 30 bucks and at Wal-Mart I could get 2 sets for 15! That's called smart shop-

"CHEAP. CHEEEAAAAP. CHEAP! CHEEAAAP CHEAP CHHEEAAP!"

Nuh uh! Think of what I could do with the spare 15 bucks! I could buy extra chicken for a fuller meal! I could upgrade to a turkey and still have some left over for stuffing! Or more usefully I could hire a hit man for the pig and the leprechaun! The possibilities are endless here, so don't call me-

"CHEEEEEEAAAAAAAPPPPPP!"

SHUT UP YOU-

"CHEEEAAAAPPPPPPP!"

"I'M NOT CHEAP GOD DAMN IT!" I growled as I pounced off the bed and landed a bit hunched over with an angry frown plastered on my face.

Now that I'm half-awake I realize that no one is in my room, my alarm clock is currently on snooze, and the door and window are both closed, meaning no outside noises could penetrate through. So besides standing here like an idiot, there's two things I could be doing now: one, thinking out things logically, or two: checking myself into a insane asylum.

Well, thinking things out would probably give me the answer to my question in a way that I would be satisfied and proud of myself, and as a reward I could go back to bed. Also I would become more confident in my abilities of being independent, and it would most likely increase my self-esteem.

...But the second thing gets me away from this house.

Watch out crazies, Ray Kon coming through!

Hooold on a second. It's a thirty minute drive.

...Damn.

Okay, so let's think things out. I sho-

" Cheap! Cheaaap! Cheap!"

Ah! It's coming from there! ... And you can't see that I'm pointing. Right. Well, I'm pointing at the bathroom! What? The bathroom? How is this _possible_? It's not like I was talking out loud, so no one could have been listening and mocking my thoughts. Besides, that bathroom is _mine_. In other words, the only door leading into it is in _my _room. Could someone have sneaked in while I was sleeping...? No, not a chance. Once I jolted out of bed at night because I heard a _pin _falling. In the_ living_ room. If not those possibilities, what else could it be?

"Cheap!"

Maybe I _am_ insane.

Think about it for a second. For the past 3 years, I have dealt with mud, snow, stick, rock, twig and squirrel wars involving throwing all objects mentioned before, nearly being arrested for being an accomplice to "the biggest doughnut scam in the history of Japan" (seriously, the day I'll be allowed to go back to Dunkin' Doughnuts is the day the Guiness Book of World Records declares Daichi and Tyson the most frood-conscious kids in Japan), and worst of all I had to go out to La Senza and help Hillary pick out a nice _bra_. Yea, that's right, a fricken' bra! That's it, I've snapped! I'm-

"Cheap!"

"... a complete and total moron."

And now that my brain is _fully_ awake and running, I now realize that that _chirping_ sounds an **awful** lot like a bird. I also realize that I chucked the nest into the garbage can yesterday, which is conveniently located in the bathroom. I also remember there _clearly_ being a light blue egg in there.

"Cheaaap!"

I sighed, and started walking towards the bathroom door when I heard a bedroom door opening and Hillary greeting everyone a good morning.

A bird and Hillary. Huh. Kind of reminds me of that time in the park when Max tripped and dropped his cinnamon bun crumbs onto Hillary's head. I also remember the feathered creatures viciously attacking Hillary's hair and said girl ending up traumatized of birds the rest of her life.

Hm...

"Hey Hilary! Could you come into the bathroom for a second?"

---

"I gotta admit, it _sure_ is cute."

"Yea and it's hair is blue! Like mine! Yea!"

"It's so small!"

"Yes, it is quite small isn't it Daichi? I presume it's only a day or two old. It's quite strange that it has already grown feathers though..."

"Who cares? It's blue!"

Yes, Tyson. I think we all understand that the thing's blue.

"It's evil Satan spawn, that's what it is!"

"Nuh uh, Hillary! Satan spawn has evil horns and evil red fur and evil steam coming out of it evil ears! Bird doesn't have horns or red fur and no steam coming out of anywhere! It doesn't even have _ears_!"

And if it did, they would be evil and red, right Max?

"Cheap!" 

"Yea, cheap!"

"Ha ha, look Ray! You've got an assertive bird!"

Assertive. Whoa, big word for Max. Wait,_ I've_ got an assertive bird?

"Max, you called him Bird. Is that his name, Ray?"

I'm _naming_ it?

"Nah Kenny. It's just for now. Ray'll think of something good!"

I will?

"Yea! It's a good thing Ray's taking care of it. I'm no good with animals, but I love 'em."

Especially with BBQ sauce, right Daichi?

Hooold on a second.

"Who says _I'm _taking care of it?"

"Everyone."

Great. Again with the unison thing.

"Uh Tyson, I don't think you should be poking it's chin like that."

"Yea, he doesn't look too happy."

"Aw, it's okay guys. He's cool, aren't ya little fell- AHH! AHHH! GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF ME!"

"HOLLY GUACAMOLE!"

"See! I told you! Satan spawn!"

I watched as Tyson ran around the dojo, waving his arm psychotically attempting to get Bird off. Max was trying to get him to calm down, Daichi was cheering bird on, Hillary was chasing after Tyson with a rolling pin, and Kenny had the phone in hand and was in the middle of dailing 911. And through out all this havoc and destruction my friends were going through caused by this stray feathered rat, you know what I was thinking?

"Alright! I'm keeping him!"

----

Today was a pretty boring day.

For starters, I was excused from doing anything and everything today to go out and buy stuff for Bird. You know what I mean: bird seeds, a little bed, a bird bath, all that. Which, by the way means I didn't have to cook today, which means the dreams I had of crucifying that frilly disaster last night became a little more of a reality today. It also means that I went to the mall, which had the pet store in it. Which was not in this house. Which means I was sane. For a full afternoon. Shocking stuff here, people.

Well, as I was saying I went to the pet store. I was carrying Bird in a little pic-nic basket (which wasn't the best idea since it was one of those air lock ones), and walked into the store. Little did I know that every department alone was the size of Texas. (And what's even more eerie was later on I heard two men talking about "Them god darn pigs keep escapifying from their pens! " which later on evolved into a fight about which brands of manure were more superior than the other). So, I spent about an hour alone in the fish department trying to locate anything that was bird-related or even had a feather on it. But luckily when a clerk found me chewing on an aquarium, she asked me If I needed assistance and told me where the bird department was.

When I finally got there and told the man at the front desk that I had a bird and I needed stuff for it to actually be able to live, he asked me what kind it was. Then it got _pretty_ awkward. Let me mentally recall this:

Guy: "Alright sir, the first thing we need to know to get started is what type of bird do you intend on caring for?"

Ray: "What bird?"

Guy: "Uh, yours?"

Ray: "Oh, yea. That thing."

_opens basket_

Guy: "Oh wow! What a cutie!"

Ray: "_Cutie?"_

closes basket

Guy: "You didn't purchase this bird from one of our other stores, did you?"

Ray: "Nope."

Guy: "May I ask where you obtained it from?"

Ray: "A frien- person. Someone I know gave it to me."

Guy: "Well, this isn't your ordinary house bird. Please follow me to the computer so I can look up what it exactly is."

And while I followed him, this random kid pops out of no where and runs right into me. Not only does he hit me right in the gut, but the cap-less water bottle he had pours all over my shirt. My _white_ shirt. Which wasn't a problem at all, until I noticed a certain bird-loving gentlemen staring _right_ at my chest. Not only staring, but blushing. And I think the guy stopped breathing for a second or two. Now, this would have had a 99.9 percent chance of happening with a woman, which is something I'm pretty used to. But come on: a_ guy_? I don't even _have_ percentages for that

But in all honesty, I should have known. The guy said "_cutie"_. I knew something was up, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. But I'm sure that's what he wanted to do to me after the little water bottle fiasco. If Bird wasn't there suffocating in the basket, I don't know how the hell I would have gotten myself out of that moment. But being the mature guy I am, I knew how to make the rest of the situation less awkward for the both of us. I bought whatever the hell he said and got my ass out of there! (I didn't listen to a word the guy said, so I never found out what breed of bird Bird actually is). As you can tell, I'm horrible under awkward situations. I swear, It's like a flashback of what George Bush did when he was told the Twin Towers were being bombed. To sum it all up, I ended up with 5 bag fulls of useless crap, and one more bag of things Bird needs to survive. Great odds there, Ray.

Also, it seems that Hillary had announced at dinner that she had something important to tell us about tomorrow. We're all supposed to meet in her room at 10:00 P.M. Strange thing was that when Kenny mentioned Kai not being present for dinner, and therefor not knowing, Hillary said not to mind thatand espeicially not to say a word to Kai. I think that Hillary's either going to tell us that she broke something of Kai's and needs us to help her cover it up, or maybe that we're killing him. I'm more in favor of the second thing, but whatever floats her boat.

"Cheap!"

Seems like bird has gotten tired of playing with his "Blingin' Birdeyz Blinding Bling" brand jewerly. (Random thought: the rap industry has moved on to sluts with big asses to birds. Honestly, they never cease to amaze me.) It's 11:00 P.M. right now, and I figure he should be going to sleep. I put him in the little bird bed I bought for him. He sits for a second, but soon enough his beady little eyes close and his head hangs slightly as he falls asleep in a sitting position. ... _Awwwww! _Come on. You can't tell me that's not cute. 

I sighed, remembering that I had left one of his play things in the sink to wash. A moth-uh, father's work is never done is it? I start getting up, but then a camera's shine on the very night stand catches my eyes.

Oh yes! The pictures! I haven't talked about those in a while, have I? Well, I've finally decided once and for all what I'm going to do. Something so horribly embarrassing, that I will have the ass begging for sweet mercy as I sit on my throne and evilly groom my evil bird who will be smiling... evilly! Ha! (I've been spending too much time with Max) I think this is the best idea I came up with since suggesting we obtain world peace by executing George Bush, Paris Hilton, and That-Guy-Who-Started-Aids-In-Africa all together. I'm going to-

"CHEEEEAAPPPP!"  
_  
__**SMACK**_

"Gaah! Bird! How many times have I told you: my pink pencil on the edge of the table: _not_ a worm! _Not_ a worm! And aren't you supposed to be asle-"

Aaaandd he's asleep.

Nice. The thing nearly dislocates it's head, and then it decides to celebrate not going into a vegetative state by going unconscious. A real thinker I have here.

I put the little featherball back onto it's bed and empty out the last plastic bag, but then I notice something.

"Where did I leave those Tiny Tater Treats?"

And then, like on cue, from outside I hear:

"Hey Daichi! You should try some of these crunchy patatoey things! They're good! I wonder why there's a picture of a canary on it though..."

I remember paying 10 bucks for that single little bag. Iv'e got to get it back.

Now I also remember that time Max tried to wrestle his Gummy Bears from Tyson.

This is going to take a while.

---

Read and Review, please. With a cherry on top.

**  
**

_**  
**___


	4. Psychopaths and Flashlights

**Author: **Neiize****

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Beyblade or anything else that brings in a sufficient amount of money, for that matter. What I do own is the story line and plot that go on in my story and the occasional OC, but that is all. I write for the sake of writing, and nothing more.**  
**  
**Warning: **Mild swearing 

**Author's Notes: **I know you're probably getting sick of seeing your name here, but Neko-Jenn, I want to apologize for taking your review the wrong way. Once you specified I understood that you were trying to help, not hurt. Again, my sincerest apologies go out to you. And thank you for the advice. I'll try to be more descriptive in the scenarios that come up along the way. I hope you'll keep reviewing so I'll grow as an author.

Anyways, I know the beginning has been slow, but I just want to tell you all that this is where the story finally takes flight. And that's all I'm going to say. _For now._

Enjoy!  
----

"I know a song that gets on everybody's' nerves, everybody's' nerves, everybody's' nerves, I know a song that gets on everybody's' nerves, and this is how it gooooeeesss..."

No kidding. I wouldn't think a guy as mature as you would ever know such a thing, Tyson.

"I know a song that gets on everybody's' nerves, everybody's' nerves, everybody's' nerves, I know a song that gets on everybody's' nerves, and this is how it gooooeeesss..."

Either Tyson's genes have finally finished the job and sculpted his brain into a teeny-weeny little hollow of brain mass, or he's repeating things. Oh crap. God, please don't-

"I know a song that gets on everybody's' nerves, everybody's' nerves, everybody's' nerves, I know a song that gets on everybody's' nerves, and this is how it gooooeeesss..."

Thanks for the help, God.

"I know a song that gets on everybody's' nerves, everybody's' nerves, everybody's' nerves, I know a song that gets on everybody's' nerves, and this is how it gooooeeesss..."

The inventor of this "song" really has something coming for every single person in the world who happens to have such terrible luck as to befriend an idiot. He should be expecting a lovely letter in the mail from a certain moron-hating neko-jin.

"I know a song that gets on everybody's' nerves, everybody's' nerves, everybody's' nerves, I know a song that gets on everybody's' nerves, and this is how it gooooeeesss..."

Beautiful. He's standing up. This could only lead to destruction and/or brain cell loss. Oh no. He's _dancing. _Here come the cataracts..._  
_  
"I know a song that gets on everybody's' nerves, everybody's' nerves, everybody's' nerves, I know a song that gets on everybody's' nerves, and this is how it gooooeeesss..."

Just because I constantly wish for horrible things to happen to my friends and have planned 3 different methods of my team captain's "accidental" death, God hates me.

"I know a-"  
_**  
**__**conk**_

Hear that sound? That was the sound of God's moral and life-long enemy, Satan, coming to my rescue by method of throwing decorative kitchen candles at the aforementioned small brain. I never knew that Satan had two-toned hair and blue face paint, though... _**  
**_  
I know a Russian with slight anger issues, slight anger issues, slight anger issues...

A few minutes of quiet chit chat between friends, and then...

"This is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my frien-"

_**conk**_****

Two times in one day? I really should consider converting one of these days...

"I guess it really _does _end, huh?" Daichi asked to no one in particular.

"Especially when the person who started it gets knocked out cold." Max stated as he started poking Tyson's unconscious body with the candle.

I have to admit, Kai really did save us with the knocking-Tyson-out thing. But honestly:_ that _was mean.

I know what you're thinking: who are _**you**_ to be calling anyone else mean? And yes, I admit it, I can be a jackass._ Sometimes_. I mean, I do smile and make jokes every so often. And yea, I do yell and become a little violent every so often. But I've never gotten to the point of knocking one of my friends out, and you know, especially not the one whose house I am currently living in for free. Tyson's grandfather was nice enough to let us all live here for the time being after our third and final beyblading tournament. And when I say "nice enough", I mean it was the day he took too many painkillers for his arthritis. In any case, he let us stay before he, Hiro, and Mr. Dickenson took off to find new, sensational beyblade teams. And do you know what Kai did when Tyson's grandfather offered him to live here? Gramps said something along the lines of: "So, Kai, how about crashing at my pad with a few of yo home dawgs?" (Side note: I got pretty damn offended when he called me a dawg.) And then Kai just Hn's and walks away.

What a spoiled, inconsiderate bastard.

At my village, you had to be a friggin' Messiah to stay at an acquaintance's house in a huge thunder storm, let alone stay just for the fun of it.

Well, well, well. The bastard just left without even saying a thank you for the pancakes and coffee. I guess you can't teach old, sadistic, rude, intimidating, emotionless dogs new tricks.

"Ray! Come on! We're going outside! Get your jacket too! It's chilly!"

-----

"Look at all the leaves!"

"Yeah! They're such pretty colors!"

"_Pretty colors_? Ha, you sounded gay Daichi!"

"I'm not gay! And sounded isn't even a word dumb butt!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!"

"Uh, Tyson. Sounded _isn't_ a word."

"Oh, come on Max! I thought you were my friend!"

"I am, but I'm not gunna be prejudice about this."

"Pre-joo-dist?"

"Are you dissing prune juice?"

"What? No-"

"GET HIM!"

Oh boy. They're all going to sleep well tonight.

The beauty of fall, huh? Great enough to produce beautiful landscape drawings and prune juice fights all at once. Fall is one of my favorite seasons, actually. I find it pretty peaceful and relaxing, which is something extremely hard to find at this house. Especially when 2 of my friends are stuffing leaves down the boxers of another. But for someone like me, who sits back on a bench with a nice, thick jacket and a warm cup cocoa, I find this extremely entertaining. Okay, now Max is sort of choking on a leaf. Not so entertaining. Damn, now I have to interact with them...

"Hey, guys! Stop! You're hurting him!"

And they're still killing him. Oh well. I did my part.

Honestly, it's a really beautiful day today. I'm sure Bird would have enjoyed it. Oh, he's with Kenny by the way. He stopped by this morning to tell us he had some work to do at home and volunteered to bird sit Bird for the rest of the day. I'm kind of worried though. I mean, in a span of about 12 hours Bird had almost killed himself 56 times, so I really hope Kenny's four eyes are actually useful today. I spent over 100 bucks for all his crap, and he's not dying until he uses all of it. No one suckers Ray Kon. Damn bird.

...Bird. Bird. That reminds me, I should be thinking of a proper name for him. I can't be calling him Bird for the rest of his life. It's like people calling me boy for the rest of my life. All right. Let's think. Of a name. ...A name. For a bird. A blue bird. ...Okay, this is harder than I thought. How about... Junior? Nah, that sounds like something an old man would call a random kid on the street who he's never meet before but somehow mistakes for his grandson. Well maybe... Pierre? Never mind. That sounds French. Well what abou-

"Hey, Ray." I turned around.

"Oh. Hi, Hillary."

The said girl smiled, but soon that smile turned into a frown accompanying a raised eyebrow.

"Why are Tyson and Daichi chanting "prune raper" while tribally dancing around a tied up Max while wearing face paint?"

I turned around again, to face the scene. It's funny how I don't find this the least bit disturbing.

"Kai's not going to be too happy about that last part..."

Hillary sighed, but started marching towards the trio in attempts to save our blonde friend. God speed, Hillary. God speed.

"Hey, wait! Was Kai in the kitchen?"

"No, sorry Ray. He left. I saw him in the streets when I was walking here. He said he would be back around 8 or so."

Leaving without even saying bye. Why am I not surprised.

I pulled up the sleeve of my jacket and checked my watch. 4:30 P.M. Damn, I've got to start on dinner soon. I think I should make ham tonight. To scare Tyson, of course. To make it even better, I should put a "You're next" card on his seat. Yeah, right, Ray. Like I could fit him into the oven. Well, maybe I could...

And the second I turned around to check the size of the oven, I saw it. A frilly, horrendous, pink disaster, hanging from the glass doorknob leading into the backyard.

Oh, my god. I think it just waved at me.

No fear, Ray. There is one thing that you can do that will ensure your safety.

"HILLARY! THE APRON IS GIVING ME PSYCHOTIC EPISODES!"

---

"I think it's done."

"No, Daichi. I told you, 10 more minutes."

"But I'm hungry nooooow!"

"Between now and the 10 minutes that it will take this pig to finish cooking, millions more will be slaughtered for human pleasure. That little fact will probably give you a good 10 minutes to ponder what exactly slaughtered means. Problem solved."

Hillary, Tyson and Max all laughed, as Daichi attempted to pronounce said word and took a sear by the dinning room table while starring at the wall, deep in concentration.

"Don't hurt yourself there, Daichi." Max teased.

"Yeah, you might pull a brain muscle!" Tyson commented.

"Lay off, guys." Hillary said.

_**Ring, ring, ring**_

"The phone! I'll get it!" Daichi stated as he ran into the family room for the phone.

"Where's Kai? He should have been back by now."

"Relax Hillary, it's only 9:00. It's probably because of the thunder storm outside."

"Max's right. He'll be back any minute."

And while Blondie and porky were trying to re-assure Hillary, Daichi walks in with the telephone in his hand.

"Who was it?"

"I dunno. I said hello, but all I heard was breathing and weird staticy noises on the other line."

"That's creepy."

"Yeah."

_**BOOM**_

CRASH 

BAM

Did anyone else here those sounds? Of course not, you're reading this. Well, the first two were sounds that induce mild heart attack in little Asian boys wearing pink aprons. That last one was said Asian boy landing face first onto the cold, tile floor.

"Oh my god! Ray? Are you okay?!"

"Give him space to breath, Hillary!"

"HAHAHA! DID YOU SEE THAT? IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FUNNIER IF HE LANDED ON HIS ASS, BUT DAMN!"

"YEAH! WHAT A STUPID IDIOT! HA!"

Note to self: buy bigger oven, throw Tyson in, and then garnish with Daichi. I groaned, and pulled myself up.

"You should be more careful, Ray!"

"Gee, Max. Thanks for telling me that after my concussion."

"Ray, really, are you oka-"

Aaaaaand the lights went out. I'm mentally retarded and blind. Beautiful.

And now a sudden girlish scream came from my left. Half deaf, too. Thing just keep on getting better and better.

"Hillary? Are you okay? Why'd you scream?" It sounded like Max's voice.

"That wasn't me."

"It was Tyson!"

"Was not, rat boy!"

"Yeah it was! I heard you!"  
_**  
**__**Ring, ring, ring**_

The phone? It's still working?

"Ah, it's back there. Good thing it lights up when it rings. I'll get it." It was Max again.

"I swear Tyson, it was you!"

"You're too young to swear, dumbass!"

"Nuh uh, I can do whatever you can do but better!"

"Would you two stop?! We're home alone, it's pitch black and we can't see a thing-"

"I think I'm retarded."

"What the hell?" That was Tyson.

"Really. I hit my head pretty hard and-"

"YOU SHUT UP RAY! Really, of everyone here I expected you to be the least bit sane!"

"Well that's pretty damn hard when your brain is lying on the floor!"

"Look, your brain is not on the floor! I need your help to keep everyone calm!"

"Croutons!"

"What?"

"I stepped on a crouton."

"RAY!"

"All right, All right, I'll stop. "

"Thank you."

"Uh, guys?" That's Max.

"Yeah?" Everyone said in unison.

"No one answered. When I picked up the phone all there was was static and heavy breathing on the other end."

And then, like on cue, a big jolt of lightening came from outside, lighting up everyone's horror-filled faces. And then the bigger crash of thunder.

"DUUUUHH DUH DUUUNN!"

"TYSON!"

"What? Come on, I was trying to lighten up the mood!"

"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!"

"Hillary! Stop screaming! What happened to us being the sane ones? Come on!"

"No Ray! I've seen this is horror movies all the time! Everyone's like "Oh, it's nothing just thunder" and then there's psychopathic killer behind us with a bloody knife and Tyson's corpse on the floor!"

"... You make that sound like a bad thing."

"Hey! Thanks a lot, Ray! Some friend you turned out to be!"

"You should hear what I'm thinking..."

"What?"

"Nothing."

_**Knock, knock, knock**_

"All right, Tyson, Daichi, stop that! It's not like Hillary isn't freaked out enough!"

"It's not me, Ray!"

"Me either!"

"Don't lie!"

"They're not lying, Ray! I'm right beside them, and they're not doing a thing!"

I gulped. And not a normal gulp. More of a I-swear-to-god-Max-If-you're-lying-my-foot-is-going-to-be-permanently-lodged-up-your-ass gulp.

"A-are you s-s-sure?" Hillary was quivering.

_**Knock, knock, knock  
**_  
"OH MY GOD!" Hillary was screaming now.

"WE ARE GOING TO DIE! SEE RAY, HILLARY WAS RIGHT! THAT'S NOT FAIR! THE BLONDE ONE ALWAYS GOES FIRST! EVERYONE KNOWS THAT!"

"AHH! THIS IS NOT COOL! WHAT ABOUT THE ASAIN ONE HUH? HE'S ALWAYS A PUSSY!"

"RAY'S ASAIN TOO! IF WE'RE LUCKY HE'LL GO FIRST!"

Oh gosh. Max is just one of the kindest people in the world when he scared out of his nut sac.

"NO! RAY KNOWS KARATE OR SOMETHING!"

"OH MY GOD! HE DOES!" Hillary squealed, but in delight. I felt someone blindly and roughly push me out of the kitchen.

"YOU KNOW MARTIAL ARTS! AND I'VE SEEN YOU DO SOME STUFF THEY CAN'T DO IN THE MATRIX! KILL THEM!"

"Whoa, whoa whoa!" I stopped both Hillary and I.

"You're all acting insane! Look, it's probably just some random bum asking to come inside or something! Just ignore it and it'll go aw-"

_**KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK**_

Another lightening and thunder combo, and the lightening once again illuminated everyone's starring and scared eyes. Is it me, or did the knocking just get a lot harder and more consistent?  
_**  
**__**KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK**_

"HOLY CRAP! WE ARE GOING TO DIE! RUN!"_****_

You people know about bowl control right? Well that and my fearless warrior face just went straight out the window.

----

"MOVE DAICHI! I'M HIDING HERE!"

"BUT THERE'S NO WHERE ELSE, TYSON! JUST SCOOTCH OVER!"

"SHHH! DON'T SAY MY NAME OUT LOUD! HE'S PROBABLY JACKING OFF TO IT OR SOMETHING!"

"TYSON TYSON TYSON TYSON TYSON TY-"

"ALL RIGHT! STOP! GET IN HERE!"

I know what you're all wondering right now: you lost_ bowl control_? And yes, yes I did. I honestly shit myself. But you know what? YOU TRY BEING IN A ROOM WITH SCREAMING HORMONAL TEENAGERS AND A PSYCOPATH KNOCKING AT THE DOOR EVERY 3 SECONDS! AND BESIDES I CHANGED MY UNDERWEAR SO-

_**KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK**_

"OH MY GOD!"

"SHUT UP HILLARY! HE'LL HEAR YOU!"

"LISTEN TO THE BLONDE!"

"SHUT UP DAICHI!"

"YOU SHUT UP, BLONDIE!"

"MAKE ME, YOU STUPID GOOD FOR NOTHING PIECE OF LAZY WORTHLESS SHIT!"

"HEY! DON'T CALL ME LAZY!"

If you're wondering, I'm currently hiding in a kitchen cabinet but I can still hear them screaming from outside. Honestly, they have every right to scream. I'm scared for _my life_ here. What the hell am I supposed to do? Wait a sec, what's that thin- HALLELUJAH!

I popped out of the kitchen with a grin on my face, as I turned on the flashlight I found in the cabinet.

"AHHHHHH!" I pointed the flashlight to the area where the screams came from, and saw Daichi and Tyson crouched under a little corner table.

"Ray? Where did you get that flashlight from?!"

"It was in the cabinet! Now all you gather around here! We have to do something!"

I heard shuffling noises and everyone finally came into view, but the frightened looks on their faces made me feel like locking myself in the cabinet this time.

"_Do_ something? What should we do?" Max asked in a horse whisper.

"Well I don't know! We have to think of something!"

"You know what we should do?" Hillary finally spoke up.

"We should get protection. We should find whatever we can around the house, and stand in front of the door. When everyone's ready we should open the door and attack the guy!"

"Won't we go to jail?" Tyson asked.

"No! It's in self defense!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, now let's kick some pedophiliac ass!"

"Okay, let's do it!" Max agreed, but with a hint of horror in his voice.

"Yeah!"

"Let's go for it!" I sighed.

"All right. I agree too." A mischievous smile spread across Hillary's face.

"Everyone search upstairs, downstairs, in the basement, where ever you can and bring whatever you can down that would cause the least bit of damage. When you're done just come downstairs. All right?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Okay! Go!"

Before I knew it everyone dashed in different directions. Daichi and Tyson dashed upstairs while Hillary and Max went for the basement.

One small problem; because of the not-having-light thing, Tyson tripped over Daichi when they attempted to upstairs and Max crashed into the basement door face first while Hillary bounced off Max's back and landed ass first. My closest friends, ladies and gentlemen.

"Idiots." I grumbled.

"Nice idea, Hillary!" Daichi yelled.

"Yeah, you stupid girl!"

"You two better shut your mouths right now befo-"

_**POUND, POUND, POUND, POUND, POUND**_

"LET ME IN!"

"HOLY SHIT! DID YOU HEAR THAT?" Max screamed.

As everyone started screaming and ranting I ran back to the kitchen and opened the cabinet. I flashed the flashlight light into it. No, damn there's nothing! Wait, wait a second.

"Yes, you guys! I found more flashlights!

I pulled out three more flashlights and ran over to my friends. I handed one to Daichi and one to Tyson, and one for Hillary and Max to share.

"You two are going to be searching in different rooms, so you'll need to spread apart. Hillary and Max, the basement is just one big space so stay together and search. I'll stay here on the main floor and look. Let's go!"

This time everyone split up without fracturing anything and they all headed in their proper directions.

Okay, okay. Let's see what I have to work with here. I'm currently in the living room. Okay, the couch. The cushions? Nah, what the hell am I going to do? Over-cozy him to death? Damn, it's too dark too see anything even with the flashlight! It's probably one of those dollar store ones made in some third world Asian country or something. Nice Ray, just keep belittling your own people. Focus here. There's a psychopath at the door and if he walks in I'm sure he'll choose the mentally challenged oriental kid against the weapon-wielding teens anyway. Okay, let's try the kitchen. Honestly, what the hell was I thinking? I'm considering using a cushion as a weapon when I have a full stock of knives and forks here. I put them in the dishwasher right? Oh no. Oh no no no no. Open you piece of cleaning crap! It's not opening! When the dishwasher cleans, it locks itself. Apparently when the power went out, it stops working but kept locking! Damn you, EnergyStar! You claim to save the environment, but when 5 teenager's lives are on the line you're probably out bandaging a cockroach's leg or some other hippie crap!

Argh... wait, how about the cabinets! I ran towards them and flung them open. Bwahaha! A spatula! Do you know what kind of damage I could do with this thing? Talk about slapping someone silly! What else is in here? Oh, my god. A pot! Woo! I have a helmet! There's this tiny mirror over the over, I wanna see what I look like.

Oh man, I look so ghetto. Really, I'm blingin'. I-

"Ray! Ray! Look what we found!"

I directed my flashlight in the area from the sound was coming from and saw Diachi and Tyson running into the living room and pouring a whole bunch of crap out of their hands and onto the floor.

"Okay! We're ready!"

All three of us turned our heads and pointed our flashlights. Hillary ran in with the flashlight and was leading Max in, and apparently he had all the so called weapons in his hands. They both crouched onto the floor and Max dropped all the stuff he found onto the ground.

"We're going first!" Daichi said as he grabbed one item from the floor and held it up.

"I found a plastic guitar!"

"Yes Daichi, ever so useful. With your guitar playing ability we could probably burst his eardrums and watch as he bleeds to death."

"No, stupid! I could bash it over his head and_ then _we could watch him bleed to death!"

"I never thought I would be saying this, but that's actually a pretty good idea Daichi." Hillary stated.

"My turn!" Tyson said, as he picked up his item, and held it up.

"A pencil case?" Max asked.

"Of course, Max. Whilst stabbing him with the pencils we can watch him develop lead poising from things school children use."

"Shut up Ray! Look, inside there's Mighty Beans! If he walks in I can throw them under his feet and he'll fall and then we can throw Swiss cheese bombs at him!"

"...You've been watching Tom and Jerry again, haven't you?"

"Ray!"

"All right! Max and Hillary, what did you bring?"

Max smiled and held up a fire poker.

"I found it in one of those card board boxes labeled trash. It's old and rusty, but it's really sharp! I'm all going to be like... stab! Stab! You got pwned, bitch!"

Oh, wonderful. There's the hyper, chat-lingo Max we all know and love.

"And I brought an old baseball bat! I pretty much think this is pretty self-explanatory."

"We don't want you're life story, Hillary!"

"Yeah, go explanatory yourself somewhere else!"

"Why don't you two learn English and go celebrate by drinking prune juice?!"

"Settle down guys. What about you Ray?" I looked down at the wooden item in my hands.

"Uh... I brought a spatula. And a pot. You know, like a helmet? I could smack him silly with the spatula."

I looked up, and everyone was giving me the you-really-do-need-a-real-helmet-just-incase-you-run-into-a-wall look.

"All righty then, everyone get up! By the door, walk slowly! Hillary commanded. Everyone stood up and started walking towards the door.

"And Ray?" She looked back at me. "You stay behind Max, okay?"

"I'm not retarded, damn it!"

"Suuure you're not."

_**POUND, POUND, POUND, POUND, POUND**_

"LET ME IN! NOW!"

"Oh, we're going to let you in all right!" Hillary exclaimed. Everyone stood by the doors, raising their weapons, waiting for Hillary's cue.

"Ready, set...GO!"

She flung open the door, and a shady finger nearly jolted inside.

"DIE!

Suddenly, Daichi sprang up and whacked the guy over the head with full force with the plastic guitar.

"AHHH! SHIT!"

The guy crouched down onto the floor, and Hillary beat him in the back with the bat. Hey, I sound like a Dr. Suess book!

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

The guy shot up and his hood fell off. Everyone gasped and starred, wide-eyed at the figure crouched down in pain beneath us.

Mother fucking shit.

"Ha ha, hey Kai..."

----

...Ouch. This chapter has been twice as long as my usual ones, being around 4500 words when normally it's around 200. Read and Review, please.


	5. From Da Hood

**Author: **Neiize****

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Beyblade or anything else that brings in a sufficient amount of money, for that matter. What I do own is the story line and plot that go on in my story and the occasional OC, but that is all. I write for the sake of writing, and nothing more.**  
**  
**Warning: **Mild-er Swearing**   
**  
**Author's Notes: **Wait! Stop right there! Don't hurt me!I know: it's been a while since I've updated. But guess what? It's summer! Which means a lot more updates coming in a lot faster. So buckle down and prepare yourself for the non-stop email alerts.

Beisdes that, I absolutely loved the responses from all the reviewers. I honestly think that was the best chapter I've ever writen, and I'm glad you all enjoyed it. When I was writing this, there actually was a thunder storm occuring outside which is where I got the idea from. Pretty lucky, huh?

Side note: I suppose getting an award for causing people to release their bowls while reading my work is pretty kick-ass, huh Itami? 

Now, I bet you're all wondering one thing: will Kai use an axe or chainsaw to dismember everyone's corpses? Read onwards!

Enjoy!  
----

"Where's that stupid girl?"

"Yeah, making us wake up at 10 o'clock just to meet in her room."

"You guys shouldn't get upset just yet. Hillary said it was important."

"Unless she's gonna say they're broadcasting the world's fastest chilli eating contest on live T.V. then it's not important and she's stupid!"

"Yeah! Stupid girl!"

Oh. Welcome back. Hold on a second, what's that I hear? "Why are you still alive?", you ask? Well let's just say that while Kai was out on his evening stroll he either had a stroke which caused him to forget he was a sadistic bastard, or he's just suddenly became a hippie. The stuff that went down last night went from normal, to eerie, to shitting myself, to paraniod, to murderous, to scared for our lives, and finally to being in bed by 12:00 A.M. A bit confusing, yes, but if you follow along you'll go with the flow, or at least be that guy in bars who thinks he's a total player and therefore a superb dancer, but even diverting your eyes to the scene for a mere second would cause your corneas to explode. Or, you know. You could just nod and pretend you understand what I'm saying.

Well, those are _my _conclusions. Now, from this handy little flashback which I have prepared, I want you people to draw to your own, and possibly help this poor, retarded little Asian kid.

_**Flashback**_  
_  
__"Ha ha, hey Kai..."_

We're all going to die.

Really. He's actually going to kill us. Oh, my god. He's eyeing my spatula. No! I refuse to be smacked silly! This is really his fault! Honestly, what kind of maniac stands pounding at the door for half an hour? Any other normal human being would have just made a simple phone call and-

"Why the hell didn't any of you retards pick up the phone? I must have called at least twice!"

Oh, shut up.

Kai... oh, Kai is going to be dragging out bodies into the backyard any second now. His hair and clothes are soaking wet, and I'm pretty sure whatever he had in the open box he's holding is dong a pretty good imitation of a piece of wet crap right about now. I don't think I've ever seen him so mad. He has an extremely aggravated face on and a large bump on the back of his head, where that "made in China" guitar has left its mark. Thank you, my Asian brothers from another mother!

"What the fuck is this? When I come back, I expect to be let in, be fed, and then left to do what my free will intends me to do. Now, do any of those three sound close to "be beaten to a bloody pulp?!"

Yes?

...No?

It's no, isn't it?

Oh my god. The pig with shoes just raised his hand.

"Put your god damn hand down, Tyson! It was a rhetorical question, you dumbass!"

"Sorry, Kai..."

"You're damn right you're sorry! You're also god damn lucky my cell phone battery is zapped or else I'd order an industrial sized oven and stuff you and Killy McGee with the guitar back there in there so fast you'd hear the fucking road runner beep-beeping in fucking Texas or Iowa or some other fucking hick state, you fucking testicle!"

"Kai, like, I'm sooo sorry! But please let me look at that bump on the back of your head. You really need to-"

"You know what I really need, Hillary? Some Bitch-Be-Gone and a crow bar, that's what!"

Bitch-Be-Gone, by the makers of Bam!

"You need to shut the hell up! You purposely hit me with a bat! No amount of "oh my god!"'s or "I'm sooooo sorry like oh my god like Kai like" aren't going to get me to forget that! And buy a decent length skirt, you fucking vagina!"

"Stop naming boy and girl privates! That's disturbing!"

"You know what's really disturbing? That fucking hair of yours, Tate! I mean come on man: what the hell are you trying to pull off there? It looks like the sun went ahead and took a big, bright shit on your head! I have a new word for you: comb! Go discover it!"

"Hey! That's not fair! Max didn't even make you mad or bug you everyday like me and Tyson!"

"Oh, thank you ever so kindly for reminding me, you droplet of retarded sperm! Do you know how fucking annoying you are? If someone came up to me, whacked me continuously in the face with a disgusting smelling tuna 98 times in a row and then proceeding to shove salmon up my ass, I would gladly accept it if it meant not interacting with you, you shriveled up donkey penis! You know what? Go with your blonde buddy over there. After finding the mystical "comb" which I speak of, try and obtain a "plastic surgeon" while you're at it!"

HAHAHAH! OH MY GOD! I CAN'T BREATH! Oh, Jesus, have mercy! This is one of the best moments of my life! Damn! Someone remind me again: why do I dislike this guy so much?

"And YOU!"

Oh. Right.

"Why the hell are you laughing?"

Laughing? Me? At my closest friends when they are all being insulted by my mortal enemy? Never.

...Okay, I lied.

"ANSWER ME!"

My expression quickly sank. God, this guy just won't give up on getting me from mildly amused to horribly angry, will he?

"Because you're being a fucking ass! Honestly! You're going ballistic and you're not even giving any of us a chance to explain! What the fuck happened to you out there? Huh? I bet you fell and that board you have sticking out of your ass just got shoved up further in there, didn't it?!"

I wasn't laughing.

Now wait for his response...

Dum dee dum duum...

Wait.

What the hell? Why is he just staring at me?

...__

_Ohhhh._

I just said the loud part quiet and the quiet part loud didn't I?

Hey Kai? Can I borrow that board for a second? Why, you ask? To drive myself into an early grave, of course! Might as well beat you to the punch!

'Hey there, genius. Maybe you should take your beating like a man, instead of squeezing your eyes shut, covering your face with your hands and screaming "DON'T HURT ME!" Just a suggestion.'

Oh? Did you see that? That was the wise suggestion of my Inner Voice. I'll tell you about him later. Right now, I have to try and avoid a hefty medical bill.

"Arg! This is so fucking pointless!"

I opened my eyes and watched as Kai took his first steps onto the stairs. Damn, Hillary was right. That bump on his head is the size of Kevin Federline's ego. He better get that thing checked out.

He walks half-way up the stairs and suddenly stops. He turns right around and narrows his eyes.

"If anyone one of you little fucktards even comes within a meter of my person or my room I will take the alleged board out of the caverns of my ass and personally make sure that it becomes very well accustomed to yours."

Then he shoots me "Death Look No. 2", goes into his room, and slams the door shut.

_**End of Flashback**_

And there you have it. Nothing really happened after that. Kai stayed in his room until 11:00 P.M. when he came down to eat. With Dranzer in hand. (Smart move, on his part.) The rest of us pretty much resumed our normal schedules and we were all in bed by 12:00 A.M., as mentioned before. But seriously, Kai was being kind. Woooah. Never thought I'd say that. And he barely ever verbally threatens us either. It's mostly physical. I think it's because he never talks to us. The most we usually hear out of him is a "Hn" or life saving advice. Like "Tyson, buying a 19th century canon with your grandfather's life savings and using Daichi as the canon ball wouldn't be the best idea", or "Daichi, don't play tag with pellet guns", or "Hillary, leaving your flammable hair spray next to the fireplace isn't too safe" or even, "Max, prank calling the Ambassador of Iraq and telling them "We'll shoot if you don't give us the oil" would cause a few problems". Of course, I'm not the type of person who can afford historical cannons, pellet guns, or hairspray, for that matter. And you know, the Ambassador's number isn't really the first on my list, so he really has nothing to scold me on. But getting back to Kai, that's really all he says. And if anyone asks him something, he either doesn't answer or gives simple-worded replies. Usually when he's mad, he hits the largest closest objects, yells something in Russian and leaves. He barely ever takes time and thought on threatening us, because no one really talks to him. Not that no one's _ever_ talked to this guy before. He's had one real conversation with everyone on the team, excluding me of course. So from my point of view, that's pretty much all I can say.

"No! Barney's gay!"

Fantastic. Looks like Tyson and Daichi are having another one of their heated debates.

"No! The Teletubies are _more_ gay!"

Okay. I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole.

"Cheap!"

Oh, right. Kenny came over a few hours ago and had my teeny weeny blue bird in hand. He didn't come by yesterday because of the massive thunder storm, so I actually had a good night's sleep for once. But I really take the guy for granted sometimes. Without him here I would have to be the one stopping Tyson from walking into that wall.

"Move left, Tyson! Left!" Kenny cried out.

"Wha-"

_**CRASH**_

Good 'ol Kenny.

Suddenly, a figure dressed in a black mini-skirt and a yellow sleeveless shirt popped through the door.

"Good morning!" Hilary sang.

"Can we leave now?" Daichi sang back in the same voice.

"Not just yet." Hillary returned to her normal voice as she looked both ways outside the hallway before closing the door.

"What did you need to inform us on, Hillary?" Kenny asked quizzically.

"Yeah Hillary, what us you needed to inform?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot Tyson."

"We already knew that."

"Just be quiet Ray and let me explain. Okay, today is November 3rd. Do you know what's happening 7 days from now?"

"We're still going to be here wondering what you're gonna tell us?

"No, idiot!"

"Just spill it, Hillary!"

A big grin spread on her face and she threw her arms in the air. "November 10th is Kai's birthday and we're throwing him a surprise party!"

I'm sorry, I think I hallucinated there. I thought you said we were going to break our backs and wallets for a guy who almost had our corpses in various pieces dug into the backyard last night. Can you repeat that for me?

"A surprise party? Yay! I love surprises, especially when they're in party form! Parties mean candy! Yay candy!" Max cheered.

Oh gosh. Max really values Kai's friendship, huh?

"That's a splendid idea, Hillary! We can have games and streamers and decorative spherical objects filled with helium!"

"..."

"Oh, um, balloons!"

"...YAY!"

Is no one else feeling the way I am? Well, time for sane Ray to speak up now...

"Wait. Why are we going to throw him a surprise party? Did you forget what he did to you guys yesterday? I'd throw piranhas at him, not a party."

"Well, yeah. I thought about that, but I figure we owe him. Besides locking him outside for like, an hour in the cold rain yesterday but we kind of did beat him pretty bad." Hillary stated.

"Yeah, maybe beating him with a lot of different big objects wasn't the best idea." Max said as he diverted his eyes from the rest of us.

"So this is like a way of saying sorry. Get it?" Hillary asked.

Yes, I get it. I get that we're all going to be in a room alone with Kai, where there will conveniently be a knife which he will use to cut "cake". But there's honestly no use in fighting this. I'm going to regret this...

I sighed in defeat. "Alright. I'm in."

"Yay! Let's buy a cake! No, five!"

"No cake now, Max! First we have to se the ground rules."

"Ground rules?" Daichi asked.

"Yes. Now, first thing's first: under no circumstances whatsoever, none of us can tell Kai about this. It's called a _surprise_ party for a reason. Agreed?"

Everyone nodded.

"Okay, good." Hillary took a deep breath. "Secondly: the only place we can talk about this is here, and we can only talk if one of us calls a group meeting, just to be safe. We have to be super careful. Once I was home alone and I was sweeping, and I was too tired to put the dust into the garbage can so I swept it all under the carpet. And then later on when Kai came home the first thing he said when he walked through the door was "Hilary, throw out the dust from under the rug."

"Woah! That's creepy!" Max squeaked in surprise.

No, that's _Kai._

"That's why we have to be careful about things. It's like he has cameras set up around the house!"

Wait a second. What if he _does_? I do some _private _things in the bathroom. ...I pee. What, did you think I was going to say something perverted?

"So keep quiet! Agreed?"

Again, everyone nodded. Excluding me of course. I'm too cool to nod.

"And lastly: Ray is buying the cake."

What? Why me?

"Awwww! That's not fair! We were gonna eat- I mean, check it for bombs before we gave it to everyone else !" Tyson complained.

Ohhhh. _That's_ why.

"Yeah well I'm sure that Sobey's wouldn't plant a bomb in our cake."

"You never know. They could have hippies working there." Tyson grumbled.

"Why would a hippie put a bomb in a cake? He'd probably put mary jane in there." Daichi argued.

"You don't even know what mary jane is!"

"Yes, and she's a very nice person!"

"BOTH OF YOU MORONS SHUT UP!" Hillary roared angrily.

Woah, was that an echo?

Hillary regained her normal posture and smiled. "Okay, that's about it! Now, I made lists of stuff we need to buy! We're all going to split up in groups and buy everything we need and meet back in here, Max's room, at 7:00 A.M.-

"Wait, wait. I can't. I have Bird with me." I interrupted.

"Oh, I'll take care of him," Kenny said with a smile. "I'm going to stay here and print banners, so I don't mind keep an eye on him."

He has eyes? Ha, could have fooled me.

"Okay, so it's settled!" Hillary started fishing around in her little handbag, and pulled out a few sheets of paper cut in half. "Everyone will go in pairs. It'll be me and Max, Tyson and Daichi, and Ray."

Oh. Today just keeps on getting better and better.

"Where are you going in pairs?"

"O-oh, good morning Kai!"

I repeat: better and better.

"Where are you going in pairs?" He repeated once again in a harsher tone. Well it seems like the prince has decided to dress in tight blue jeans, with a belt (which I don't get) and a white Abercrombie and Fitch muscle shirt. And once again, he's leaning against the door frame with his eyes closed and arms crossed. Wonderful. He's going to have Hillary drooling all afternoon.

"Uh..." Hillary droned as she stared at Kai's chest. She shook her head and looked him straight in the eye. "We're... we're...um..."

"We're going out to buy supplies!" Tyson cut in.

"Ye-yeah! Supplies!" Daichi agreed.

Kai narrowed his eyes. "Supplies for what?"

"Yeah! Supplies for what!" Daichi questioned cheerfully as he spun around to face Tyson.

"Supplies for...for..."

"Supplies for a party!" Max exclaimed.

Oh Max. Poor, stupid, delusional, oblivious, retarded Max.

"N-not your party of course! We're throwing a party for... for..." Max looked around the room. "For Bird!"

"Yes! For Bird!" Kenny agreed.

"You know, to welcome him to the world! Like how a baby gets a little party when they bring it home from the hospital."

"...But it's a bird."

"So? He still deserves a party!"

For what? Sitting on his ass and eating 50 bucks worth of bird seed everyday?

Kai sighed. "You said you were going in pairs, yet Ray is going alone. I'll go with him."

It's a perfect daaay... nothing's standing in my waaayyy...

"Wha- What! Why?! You hate us!" Daichi yelled, quivering.

Kai sighed, and turned around to face us. "I-"

"More importantly, you must hate Ray more than any of us! I heard he "pwned" you yesterday!" Kenny interrupted.

PWNED! THE NERD SAID PWNED! _AND_ HE DID THE FINGER THING!

'_He's talking about the time you insulted him by saying he had a foreign object sticking out of his ass, which in reality is pretty offensive. And the second he stops talking about it, you burst out laughing. Notice how everyone is staring at you with fearful eyes. Not the best reaction, if I do say so myself_.'

Oh crap.

" Ahem... uh, sorry about that. I had a tickle... In my throat. A tickle in my throat. Yeah, because my throat was getting a little ticklish, and that's why I had the tickle." I stammered. "Did you know that tickling is considered a form of torture? I didn't until a little while ago. I wonder, if you go up to a cop and start tickling him, would he arrest you? And what if it was a woman? Oh, you'd be in deep shit there." Kai cocked an eyebrow and attempted to comprehend my droning. "And you know, anyone feel free to stop me from blabbing continuously, like Hillary for instance, anyone will do-"

"He laughed because he um, had a tickle like he said. He wasn't making fun of you." Max cut in.

And what do you know. Hillary is staring at Kai's chest. Surprise, surprise.

"Yes, and we-"

"Just all of you shut up. I'm coming with Ray, and that's the end of that."

"Why?" I inquired. "Don't you hate me?"

"I don't hate anyone. I intensely dislike some people," Kai said as he peered over his shoulder to witness Tyson chewing on a single sock, "but I don't hate them." He grunted.

Hilary snapped out of her trance and spoke up. "Okay, you can go with Ray."

"WHAT?!" I snapped, looking back at Hillary, but I think she suddenly found a spot on the wall veeeeerrry interesting. I sighed.

"Why do you even want to come?" I questioned.

"As I was trying to say before I was so rudely interrupted, I'm worried about him. We have a reunion in two weeks with the rest of the BBA teams, and I don't want the possibility of him getting mauled by a group of wild fans to be higher than it already is."

What the hell? He's worried? About _my _safety?

"Awwww! Kai! That's so sweet! You're really worried about Ray huh? He's your friend, so you wouldn't want him getting hurt, right?" Hillary asked cheerfully.

"Yeah, Kai has enough feelings to like people! Who wudda guessed?"

"Yeah Tyson! I-"

"If we have a reunion, we're going to battle. And I don't want him to be with a pathetic injury from a group of hormonal teenage girls. I'd rather not have our team embarrassed or risk a loss. It won't be tolerated."

Oh, thank Jesus.

"Oh." Hillary stated, let down.

"Hurry up and change," he said in the same monotone voice, "we're leaving for the mall in 5 minutes."

Oh, bless you Kai! Really, I'm so excited! Because, I, Ray Kon, get to go out on a shopping spree with my best friend in the whole entire world! We already had lots of fun yesterday, and again today? You know what we did yesterday? He nearly beat my ass in! Fun, huh? And I'm even happier that he told me ever-so-kindly that we could leave whenever I was ready. Oh, happy days!

Sarcasm is a wonderful thing.

-----

"Cups?"

"Check."

"Plates?"

"Check."

"Piñata?"

"Uh... nope. And I haven't seen them around. We should ask the woman at the front desk where they are."

"No. We're better off just looking for them ourselves."

"Maybe they're in a place where only the staff are allowed or something. We're already wearing hoods and sunglasses, so they won't know out identities unless they mistake us for the two robbers they saw at the 7 o'clock news."

"Fine. Do whatever you want."

God damn! He's impossible! We already look like we're from "da hood", so I really doubt someone will recognize us. Honestly, all this guy cares about is winning those stupid mini-matches we have at reunions, which I might add are just for fun. What a stupid-

"May I help you?"

How the hell did I get here? Oh well. Don't draw attention to yourself.

"Uh, yeah. Where do you keep the piñatas?"

"Right back there in aisle 7, where the young man with the hoodie and sunglasses is standing and looking at the piñata design book."

I hate him.

I walked over and stood beside Kai, looking at the designs. Ew. What the hell is that thing? It looks like some kind of dried up plum. Oh wait. Those are prunes. Never mind. Dora the Explorer? Oh, of course. I'm sure the Satan-worshiper would love that. What abou-

"I told you."

"No, no. See, it's says "I'll _**hold**_ you when you can't stand." The 'h' just looks like a 't'.

"No, I mean I told you we could have found it by ourselves."

...Ohhhh.

"Well it doesn't matter." I sighed, exasperated. "She didn't even notice me. Besides, I don't think a middle-aged woman with a toy poodle sticking out of her purse would be interested in a 16-year-old with a Chuck-E-Cheese's card sticking out of his wallet."

"Chuck-E-Cheese's?" He asked, still leafing through the designs with a cocked eyebrow and a smile.

"Hey! Shut up! I like the spider-squishing game! It's fun!" I defended.

He chuckled. "Riiiight."

What d'ya know? Well, I didn't know that the emotionless Kai Hiwatari was capable of smiling, let alone laughing. You learn something new everyday.

Okay, back to the designs. Anniversary... no... horses... no...Ohhhhh!

"Look! Winnie the Pooh!" I exclaimed while pointing at the design.

I looked at Kai, who had the "I-can't-believe-I-took-a-five-year-old-shopping-with-me" look on his face.

"Oh, um I mean. Ew, Winnie the Pooh is so lame."

He rolled his eyes and went back to the design book.

But... why? Who _doesn't _love Winnie the Pooh? I mean he's cute, cuddly, pokeable, and most importantly: a honey whore! Putting those damns bees out of business is the best thing any fictional character could do. I got stung on my ass once, and let me tell you: It hurts like a bitch. How the hell that thing got up there, I haven't had the foggiest idea.

"What about this one?"

I directed my attention to the particular design he was pointing at. It was a round piñata, with a basic blue and purple background and red hearts and yellow stars everywhere. It said "Welcome to the World!" in big block letters. Why would he get that? We're getting all this shit for his... Oh crap.

"Nah." I said, in a cool voice. "It seems a bit childish, don't you think?"

"That's the point. Besides, I thought you of all people would _want_ something childish."

"...Well it's a fricken' bird!"

"Now you come up with this conclusion?!" 

"I just don't like it okay?"

He sighed. "So what do you suggest?"

"I-"

"_Besides_ Winnie the Pooh."

I groaned, and closed the design book. "Let's just do this part later."

"Fine. What's next on the list?"

"Uhh..." I quickly took the small piece of paper out of my jacket pocket and and uncrumpled it. "Only one thing left. Balloons."

Kai sighed again, and turned around to face all the different party objects. "I saw them back in aisle 2. Follow me." I picked up our basket and walked behind the two-toned wonder.

Holy crap. Not only were there basically a million different types of balloons to start with, but this store just had to go and make things more complicated by adding about 3 millions more designs. Look at this crap. "Mattress Lovers" and "Pencil case King" are just one of the weird possibilities. What's this? "Welcome, fellow Cher worshipers"? Okay. Now that's just eerie.

I moved down the aisle until I reached normal looking balloons. "Vaseline rocks!" Looks like I'm not quite there yet.

Ah, here we are. Normal balloons, with no cult or depressing writings on them. Wh-

"I have this side. Go to the right and see if you can find some presentable ones." Kai said, still keeping his eyes on the balloons.

I turned and saw him standing on my right side. When did he get here? Oh well. I did was I was told and moved to his right side.

Okay let's see what we have to work with here. Normal pack; 50 balloons; red. Only red? Nah, I would rather have one with a whole bunch of colors. But...

I turned back to Kai, who had a pack of balloons in his hand, and was apparently was reading the descriptions.

...What would he like?

I went into the crevasses of my brain and tried to recall at least one time when Kai talked. About anything. It might give me a clue as to what this guy enjoys in life, if anything. Um...Nope, zilch. Nada, nothing. Well... let's use logic. He definitely doesn't like bright colors. Not only does he never wear them, but I would think someone who has multiple ear piercings and face paint tattoos wouldn't want big, pink, round objects floating around his home. Ever.

...What about blue balloons? He has a couple of blue shirts, and his tattoos are blue. Alright, that seems logical to me. I picked a 50 pack of royal blue balloons. Done.

I looked back at Kai, who was still looking through all of the packs, neatly hanging from the hooks on the walls.

_' It's not like you can ask him to go home. Not only does he know you like doing things that toddlers do, but he also thinks you're an idiot, which isn't too far from the truth. Just pretend you're still looking and say you're done when he is. '_

Oh, right. My Inner Voice. Not only do I have constant rambling, psychotic episodes and suggestions flying through my head, I also have her. Yes, her. Apparently she's a sensible young lady that lives for manners and stopping me from killing myself. Which is a good thing. ...I think.

"Arg..."

I turned around to Kai. He had an irritated expression on his face, still looking at those damn balloons. He should just pick a random pack and just leave it at that. What an idiot. Wait. Why is he staring at me? 

_'You're still staring at him.'_

"Eep!" I quickly turned my head and started randomly picking out packs and reading the backs.

"Oh no, not this one! Gay people like this!"

...and he's not even looking at me.

..._Gay people like this_? Smooth, Kon. Real smooth. As a baby's butt. You-

"I'm sorry."

My eyes widened and I turned my whole body to face Kai. Still with the packs. 

I shook my head and rested my hand on my head. "I-I think I'm hearing things."

"You're not. I'm sorry." 

What...?

"For last night. You were right. I snapped at everyone without a plausible reason. I should have given all of you a chance to explain."

He turned to look me straight in the eye. But I didn't dare to move. It's not nice to take advantage of people when they're drunk...

"Especially you. You didn't do anything. You were right to snap back at me. I deserved it."

"W-what?" I stood there like an idiot, stunned. "I... I..."

"I... I?" Kai repeated.  
_  
_"I-It's okay. You didn't need to apologize."

Kai shrugged and went back to reading pack descriptions. "I felt guilty."

... He apologized. Did everyone see that? He apologized for _us_ nearly sending _him_ to the emergency room! And you know what happened next? He said he felt guilty. He said he _felt. _Now, that's going too far. Kai is an ass. **A** **big ass**. Asses do not apologize. Hell, they're not even _capable_ of apologizing! This is just a stupid ploy to get me to soften up to him and before I know it: bang! I just got "accidentally" hit in the head with a shovel. Watch. Just watch. The next thing he says is going to make me want to punch him out.__

_"_I think this pack is the best we can get."

See! I told you! Ass! Total ass!

Kai threw the aforementioned pack into the basket I was carrying and started walking towards the cash register. "We'll tell Hillary to pick the piñata. It's getting late anyways. We should go eat something. The food court closes in an hour."

----

"Welcome to Ting Pak's China Hut! Home of the world's best kung pow chicken. How may I help you?"

"Can I have some Kun Pow with noodles and veggies?"

"Sure thing! That'll be nine dollars and eighteen cents!"

"Here."

"Super! Have a great day!"

Oh, that's going to be hard after that little power-packed encounter. I wonder how much these people get for acting like a thirteen year old girl on morphine.

I walked over to the table Kai was sitting at and sat down. I looked over at Kai's plate.

"You like teriyaki?" I asked.

"Yes," he said as he placed a piece of chicken in his mouth, chewed and then swallowed. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm Asian."

He quizzically looked at me. "You're an odd guy."

"Yes, but I'm an odd _Asian_ guy."

"Of course you are. Now eat your food."

So we ate. In silence. This is so damn awkward. Honestly, what do I talk to this guy about? What does he do besides brood, criticize and insult? Who else that I know does that?

"So... you like Simon Cowell?"

"Who?"

I'm guessing he's not going to brood, criticize or insult in front of a T.V. anytime soon.

"Never mind."

I sighed. I had already finished my food and he still had some left.

"You chew slow."

"Maybe you chew fast."

"I _know_ I don't. Tyson chews fast. I _don't_ chew like Tyson."

He rolled his eyes. "Tyson _inhales _food. I doubt the verb "chew" is even part of his vocabulary." He wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Besides, I'm done. Let's go."

----

"Oh cool! Noisemakers!"

"You think that's cool? Look! They got hats!"

"And forks!"

"What's so cool about forks?"

"They have a points on the tops."

"...COOL!"

"Idiots." I mumbled as I stuck my head out of my door. "IT'S 12:30 P.M.! TYSON, MAX, DAICHI: GO TO SLEEP!"

"Kai's still up!" Daichi protested. I groaned.

"Just don't break anything!... Of mine!" I added.

"Okay!" Daichi yelled back happily.

I closed the door and heard one last yell coming from outside.

"Hey, Kai? Why'd you get two packs of blue balloons?"

A small smile appeared on my face. "Ray Kon, 1. Satan, 0."

-----

This chapter is about 5500 words. Holy crap, anyone? Read and Review, please. 


	6. Tiles And Heads: Not A Good Combination

**Author: **Neiize****

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or anything else that brings in a sufficient amount of money, for that matter. What I do own is the story line and plot that go on in my story and the occasional OC, but that is all. I write for the sake of writing, and nothing more.**  
**  
**Warning: **Mild Swearing**   
**  
**Author's Notes: Don't hurt me. **I wasn't even here most of the time! I was in Montreal, totally without the access of the almighty computer, let alone the internet. I apologize. I repeat, **don't hurt me. **

As they say in some random movie, "the plot thickens!" Yes, the plot _is _thickening, Intense Innocence. Like I said: It starts out slow, then it develops a lot more quickly. Thank you for all the reviews, from both the regulars and new reviewers. Every single one is appreciated, even though I rarely respond to them. But, if at any time you would like me to respond to a review, just write "RESPOND TO THIS REVIEW NEIIZE OR I WILL COME TO YOUR DOORSTEP AND ASK MY BUDDY DRACULA TO TAG ALONG TOO." Weird? Nah. I prefer "quirky."

Before I forget, I want to send a special thank you to my friend Gina and her "colourful" uncle for providing the inspiration for a couple of jokes featured in this chapter.

Enjoy!  
----

"Uhhh..."

"Hurry up and choose something, Tyson."

"Don't rush me!" The said boy snapped at the younger redhead. "I want... Uhhh..."

"It's not a hard decision, Ty. Either waffles or pancakes for breakfast. Just choose."

"I can't, Max! I want both!"

"Just get one of each!"

"No one asked_ you_, Hillary!"

"While we're young!" I growled.

"Okay! I want... one of each." Tyson stated triumphantly with a proud smile. Hillary on the other hand was not as amused.

"If you do that to me_ one more time_, I **will** set you on fire."

I hope Hillary is being serious. She'd be doing all of us a favour.

So while Hillary and Tyson are fighting about who would set fire to whom with what, allow me to explain my current situation: me. Cooking. In the frilly apron. I can honestly feel myself pouring my masculinity in this pancake batter as we speak. And now as the stove top sizzles, I see bits and pieces of my boyhood splattering out of the pan. Ah, there goes my one-day obsession with those weird "Pokeman" cards. I sure had a lot of those little 'mans'. And there's my first G.I. Joe. I got that thing when I was 3 from my uncle who lives in the U.S., and coincidently was burnt the day he left by my mother and used as a sacrifice for the Gods. Ah, good times. Good times. And look! There's me learning how to braid and bind hair at the age of 6... Damn. Never mind this. Looking back on my childhood, I realize this "masculinity" which I speak of never had a chance to begin with.

Hey, has anyone ever noticed how many different tile designs there are in the world? Random, I know, but I sort of caught a glimpse of the kitchen floor when Hillary threw Tyson onto it, and I saw this extravagant design on each tile. The actual tile is a light brown/dark beige colour, and there's this dark brown vine, swerving inside the tile making this artistic pattern. May I be the first to say: What the hell? Do the people who make and design these things for a living realize that we're going to do nothing but step on their hard work? Not only that, but these people must have a lot of time on their hands to make so many different types of tile. It's completely insane. I mean, it's hard enough choosing between the millions of colours they already had to start with, so why not get rid of a few of the extra, meaningless colours? What's that, you say? "There are no meaningless colours"? Well, call me crazy, but can't we take the blue-green tile and the green-blue tile, and, oh I don't know, make them into one simple _teal _tile? And-

"Hey! You're burning my pancake!"

I jumped at the sound of Tyson's irritated voice and groaned, seeing the blackened edges of the otherwise well-cooked bread. Tyson leaned over the counter and caught a glimpse of the pancake, shrugged, and held out the plate in his hand.

"Oh well. Hand it over."

I sighed and flipped the pan, watching the pancake fall onto his plate. Have I ever told you guys that I'm a perfectionist? There's probably a few of you just getting a little chuckle out of that, but I am. Why did you think Kai and I shared rooms in every tournament we were together in as a team? Things need to be in place, and with Tyson, Daichi, or Max around, things would be in utter destruction, complete disarray, and they would eventually be taped off from the rest of society, for the greater good. One problem: I'm not part of the rest of society. For you slow people out there, this means one thing. Ray: here. Society: there. So I have to make due with what I've got, even if that means bunking with Satan. Even though I "intensely dislike some people" (_coughcoughRussainSadistcoughcough_), I dislike teenage slobs leaving pizza topped with Skittles and Smarties all over my bed even more. So everything works out. Or at least that's what I tell myself.

"You know, this isn't so bad. The burnt edge gives it flavour." Tyson said, chewing with his mouth wide open. Note to self: buy muzzle.

"Really? Let me try!" Daichi commanded as he brought his fork closer to Tyson's pancake, only to be stopped by a forceful whip of a spoon.

"I don't think so, rat boy!"

"I'm not a rat boy!"

"Would you two shut up for one second?!"

"Shut up Hillary!" Daichi and Tyson yelled in unison.

"No, you-"

"Look! They have a sale on marshmallows at Sobey's!" Max squealed in delight at the flyer in his hands.

"No. Fricken'. Way."

Seriously, this whole burnt pancake thing is making me mad. Whenever I vacuum, I go with the carpet trimming, not against it. Whenever I dust, I do one round of dry-dusting and another with some cleaning solution. Before I go to sleep I check the closet **and** under the bed for monsters, for god's sake! Does this sound like someone who burns food?

No. It actually sounds like someone who sets fire to the mental institution they're currently residing in with gas and a match they found in the staff room kitchen, while they dance around the burning building screaming "The monsters can't get me now, can they?!"

...Nevermind. I just answered my own question.

"Look! They even have coloured ones!" Max cried while pointing at the flyer.

"Neat!" Daichi exclaimed.

"How many bags do you think we could buy?"

"Well," Max started, "each bag of marshmallows is $1.22, and we found how much under the couch...?"

"One dollar, 13 cents, a chicken wing, and a cough drop." Tyson said while staring down at the objects in his hands.

"Well then we really can't get any-"

"I call dibs on the chicken wing!"

I sighed, watching Hillary wash the dishes, which includes the pan which the burnt pancake was being cooked in. I leaned over the counter of the kitchen casually, but eventually slumped into it with my head banging against the hard marble.

This is really bugging me. This is a disgrace to myself, and to the people living with me. You probably think I'm over-reacting, but who knows what'll happen next? First I'll be burning pancakes. The next thing you know, you'll find dust bunnies running freely under the couches. Then you'll see toothbrushes slightly sticking out of their rightful holders. And it might even become worse. Maybe, if things get** that **bad, Daichi and Tyson will be running around the dojo. _Without_ their leashes. Oh god.

And then, suddenly, something hit me.

I looked down onto the floor, narrowed my eyes and made an animalistic noise which came from the depths of my throat. "You," I growled through my teeth while keeping my eyes on the tiled floor, "this is _your_ fault."

Hey, have you ever been in a room full of people who find a teenage boy growing and foaming at the mouth while staring at the floor and threatening it sort of "weird"? No? Well, don't try it.

"Ray, are you alright?" Max asked with an edge to his voice.

How the hell am I going to get out of this one? "Well, yes, I-"

"Daichi! It's 1:35 P.M.! Operation Slip-'n-Slide! Go, go!"

And before I could finish my pathetic excuse, the pig and the leprechaun run upstairs like they had a demonically evil figure chasing after them. (In other words, Kai.)

"What was that about?" Hillary asked, still staring at the stairs. Max merely shrugged his shoulders, and went back to searching through the flyer. At least their social idiocies are worse than mine.

I heard a slow, soft chuckle, and turned to the blonde-haired wonder, who was the source of the sound. "They're like little kids, ya know?"

"Daichi has a reason to be," A corner of Hillary's mouth turned upwards."But Tyson? He's older than I am, and he acts younger than a toddler."

"You like that, don't you?" Max questioned, with knowledge twinkling in his eyes.

Hillary's expression quickly sank, and she rolled her eyes. "Way to ruin the moment, blonde." she mumbled. She turned her head to face me and smiled.

"So, did you and Kai have fun shopping together?"

"Do men like having their testicles eaten by rabid squirrels?"

Hillary laughed and took a sip from her tea. "I'll take that as a "no.""

I sighed. What kind of stupid question is that to ask? Sure, Kai and I had loads of fun. After prancing around and singing "Beautiful" by X-tina in a clothing store's halls, we went home and painted each other's toenails and I watched Kai as he showed me the various different outfits he bought from aforementioned store.

...Ah, no! The mental images! Oh god, oh god, oh god! Get it out of my mind, get it out, get it out! Think of something less traumatizing to distract yourself, Ray!

Tyson eating!

No! Uh, uh...

Max left alone with a room full of Smarties!

Damn, damn! This isn't working!

Kai chopping his head off in a gruesome attempt at suicide!

Wait, that's a good thing. How about...

Grandpa in nothing but a G-string!

Ahhhh.

...AHHH! GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD, GET IT OUT, GET IT OUT!

And then like this blessed distraction from hell, we hear a loud creak, and an even louder boom coming from upstairs.

Max's attention was diverted from the flyer while he looked at the ceiling. Suddenly, his eyes widened with shock. "We left them upstairs."

Hillary's mouth plopped open, and she continued. "Alone."

A wave of inescapable doomed flushed in my stomach. "Without their helmets." We all exchanged worried looks and Max quickly darted towards the stairs.

Suddenly, a giant wave of water comes crashing downstairs with the force of Rosie McDonald when she's at an All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet. Not only does the water shrivel up the carpet covering the stairs, it knocks Max right off them, and he lands pretty hard on his right shoulder with a big** thud**.

"Oh my god!"

"Max!"

Both Hillary and I ran to where Max had landed, a good few feet from the stairs.

"Max?" I asked, fright not well hidden in my voice. "Are you okay? Does your shoulder feel dislocated? For god's sake, speak to me you stupid sugar high, inconveniently located and quite ravenous blonde!"

I'm so great under awkward circumstances; I should be a crisis control councillor.

"Did you see that, mama? That banana stole the Taj Mahal! No, I swear!" Max grumbled, unconscious.

"Is he alright?!"

"I don't know!" I practically yelled. "Max!"

His eyes slowly opened and he groaned. "Five more minutes..."

"Max! Listen! You just got hit!" Hillary exclaimed.

He cocked an eyebrow. His voice was low and husky. "Hit? By who? ...What did I do to Kai this time?"

"No," I groaned, warily and more calmly, glad that he was now awake. "You were knocked down by a wave."

"A Wave? Super Smarties! I love the beach. Can I have ice cream?"

"You're not at the beach, Max!" Hillary cried out with concern.

"You're silly. Can I have ice cream now?"

"Max, listen to me," I said anxiously, "We were in the living room, and we heard a weird noise coming upstairs. You were going up the stairs when this gigantic wave hit you, and you were knocked back. Do you remember any of it?"

His eyebrows slanted downward in frustration. "We were talking about our pillow fort, weren't we?"

Hillary sighed and softy stroked Max's cheek. "That was nearly a week ago..."

"Am I going to be retarded now?" Max asked, his eyes nearly drifting off.

"Yes."

"Ray!"

"Relax, I'm kidding. Judging from the bump on your head, you probably have momentary memory loss. It only lasts for a few hours. What I'm more concerned about is your shoulder."

Max made an angry yet confused face. "I ain't no soldier, Kon."

I rolled my eyes. Dumb blonde.

"How do you think this happened?" Hillary asked in a hushed whisper.

Max groaned and moved his head around a bit. "Probably some stupid plumbing problem. Can an injured retard can any pain meds around here?" His blissful numb state had obviously just turned into the annoyed pain-filled one.

"He's probably right." Hillary agreed.

I nodded. "A pipe probably burst or something. We've never had a problem with the plumbing before, though..."

And then, when we're all so sure this was some random horrible luck that had been bestowed upon us, Daichi and Tyson come running downstairs. _With swim trunks on_. Excuse me. I must find a trustworthy butcher for the cow, and a few Lucky Charms to lure the leprechaun.

"Uh oh..." The leprechaun said. 

"Daichi, I think Operation Slip n' Slide wasn't the _best _operation we've thought of..."

"Okay," Hillary breathed in and out calmly before she continued. "What did you guys do?"

"Weeeeeeeeeell..." Daichi and Tyson carried on the word a lot longer then was needed.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Hillary asked through her grinded teeth.

"Okay well Daichi said this..."

"And Tyson and I thought it wasn't hot enough..."

"And then the door..."

"Then Pikachu did thunderbolt..."

"ONE AT A TIME!" Hillary roared. She cleared her throat, still keeping her menacing glare. "Tyson?"

"Okay, okay. Today's really hot you know, and the air conditioning isn't working. So me and Daichi thought it would be a good idea to fill the bath tub all the way up and go swimming. But then.-"

"Bullwinkle!"

Daichi cocked an eyebrow at an unconscious Max. "What's wrong with him?"

"IT'S ALL SQUISHY!" Max cried.

"You two broke him! The wave came and-"

"Nah," Tyson interrupted Hillary. "Max always talks in his sleep. Even when we shared rooms back in tournaments."

Hillary's face calmed down into a placid expression."Oh. Well that's a relief." 

"Pickles eat olives when no one's looking..."

Right, Max. And Tyson and Daichi have been given scholarships to Harvard.

"Like I was saying," Tyson continued. "We were filling up the tub and we let the water run. Then me and Daichi remembered that we left our rubber ducks in our room. But when we got there, we couldn't find it. So we were looking, and then I found this wicked bottle cap that I lost, and then I threw it in Daichi's ear. You should have seen it! He was just like "AH I WANT MY MOMMY" and fell down 'cuz he was so scared!"

"Nuh uh! Tyson's a big, fat, hairy liar!"

"I'm not hairy!"

"IF YOU TWO DON'T TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED-"

"Fine! We got into a fight, and we forgot the water was running. And the water just kept filling the bathroom until there was so much that it exploded out. It even broke the door right off its hinges!" Tyson exclaimed, opening his arms dramtically like we was about to hug someone.

"You morons! I can't believe you could be so stupid!"

"You can't?" I asked.

"Hey! Don't yell at us! We got ripped off! We didn't even get to go swimming or anything!" And while Daichi flung his arms dramatically in the air, he knocked down Hillary's half-finished glass of tea. Hillary caught the glass before it hit the floor, but the tea spilt all over.

I sighed. "I'll get the vacuum cleaner."

While I searched for the battery powered mini-vacuum, I suddenly heard footsteps that soon came to a halt. And then even more freakily, I heard this strange, wet, popping sound and everyone went silent. I found the vacuum and pulled it out, turning around to face the others.

"Why'd everyone stop talki-"

Then, I suddenly realized what that popping noise was. It was the sound of 3 mouths dropping open at the exact same time at a horrifying image. There was Kai, standing on the middle of the stairs, soaked from head to toe. He slowly and eerily finished walking down the stairs and stopping right in front of everyone. His red eyes looked even more demonic than usual, which meant that he was pretty mad. Well, the clenched fists and grinding teeth sort of also gave me the impression he was mad, but the eye thing was scary too.

Kai spoke very, very slowly."What. Happ-"

"COOKIE MONSTER!"

Kai looked at Max with hard eyes. "Don't hurt him, Kai!" Hillary cried. "It's not his fault! This giant wave of water came down and knocked him down and made him a mentally incapable! If you're going to kill anyone, you should kill money-see and monkey-doo over there!"

"Hey! What did we do?!" Daichi objected.

"You left the water running until it came crashing downstairs, idiot!"

"It was an accident! Kai should kill whoever installed the plumbing!" Tyson argued.

"For what? NOT LEAVING THE TAPS RUNNING UNTIL THE HOUSE WAS FLOODED?"

I haven't added anything to the conversation so far. Let's see...

"Yeah! Benedict Arnold!"

Maybe blurting out random terms wasn't the best idea in a situation like this. Especially when some people still think back to that "Ray's head hitting tile floor and therefore becoming a retard" phase. Wait... tiles... no...

I, once again, looked at the floor and put a noticable scowl on my face. "You bitch."

Being given the raised eyebrow plus the what-the-hell look three times in one day. Seriously, this week has been getting better and better for me. From being forced into adopting a half-witted bird, to becoming a retard, to everyone thinking I'm not a retard just simply strange, and then back to being a retard. Either God has been a wee bit neglectful of little ol' me, or he didn't approve of me going shopping with Satan.

"Uh, I mean-"

"GO MR.BREAD, GO!"

Well, time to thank god for Max being sleepily awkward.

Kai was just about to explode. "YOU MORO-" He quickly caught a glance at my face, and calmed down. Unexpectedly, Kai's face pressed into an unreadable expression. "I-It doesn't matter whose fault it was." He hesitated, then continued. "Passing fault only makes the burden harder on all of us." He sighed, then started massaging his forehead.

What the hell? This is not right. He'll snap, I know he will, just watch.

"Seriously?" Tyson asked in surprise.

"Yes." Kai said calmly, with his eyes closed.

"Really?" He asked again.

"Yes."

"Truely?"

"Yes."

"...Seriously?"

"YES, PIG!"

There's the Kai I know and loathe.

"Yes! We're off the hook! High five!" Tyson cheered as he raised his hand for a slap in return. Daichi tried to reach, he even jumped, but couldn't.

"Ha, ha! Does the baby need to stand on a chair to reach?" Tyson mocked.

"Does fatty need a whole chicken for dinner again?"

"Why I outta-"

"**In any case**," Kai strained the three words. "The bathroom these two decided to demolish was the lavatory beside my room."

"Oh no! You're room must be ruined." Hillary pouted cutely, hoping Kai would notice.

"We don't have any spare rooms..."

"Daichi's right. He and Tyson share a room, and Chef will probably bunk with Max tonight since he's bringing Bird back. That means..."

"No babushka! DON'T EAT THE PUDDING CUP!"

All of their heads (well, the conscious ones at least) turned to face me, but I wasn't really listenning. I was glowering at the floor. Stupid tiles. All I heard was, " Kai, room ruined, and no spare rooms." Uh oh. 

Wait, wait a second...

It's coming to me...

...OH HELL NO!

"Wait just one minute! Who said I would agree to- HOLY!"

I hunched over and held my stomach in pain. Being nudged by pointy and wondrously ANNOREXIC elbows in the ribs kinda does that to a guy.

"Great! Kai, you should go upstairs and put whatever you need in Ray's room. And change too, you'll catch a cold." Hillary said with a cheerful smile.

Kai shrugged and headed upstairs. Hillary's cheery expression quickly turned into one of anger. "Now you listen to me Raymond Kon, Kai's room became completely ruined and he didn't even yell at Tyson or Daichi for it either. This is the least you could do for him.

I winced in pain. "Why do I have to do it? I'm retarded and crippled in the stomach now, for Christ's sake!"

"I know you don't like Kai very much, but we have to do this."

We? We?! WE?! WHERE IS THE _WE_?!

"Yeah Ray!" Tyson added. "What kind of person would you be, turning your back on the friend?"

"A bad one, that's what!" Daichi agreed.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO EAT IT!" Thought I'd add Max's imput as well.

I groaned. I have two issues on my hand right now: Number one, I've got Satan sharing a bed with me. Not really helping with the "Try to get God to love me again" thing. Two, babushka apparently ate the pudding cup. Which means Max is still sleeping, which also means I'll be the one to drag him upstairs. If he tries to take a bite out of me mistaking me for some sort of candy I should not be held accountable for his murder.

"Good afternoon, everyone!" Kenny said happily while walking through the door.

"Cheap!"

"GOD DAMN IT GIVE ME MY PUDDING CUP!"

"Uh, why is there water all over the dojo?" Kenny asked while making his way to hand me bird, unintentionally splashing water.

"Who cares? We didn't get in trouble! High five!"

Daichi was about to raise his hand, but quickly caught on. "SHUT UP TYSON!" He roared.

"Hey, Kenny." Hillary said warily.

"EW! BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING! BABUSHKA CAN HAVE IT."

"Cheep!"

"Hey little guy." I said with a small smile as I patted the top of his head with my finger.

"You know Ray, that bird of yours is quite troublesome. It took me twice as long to make the banners for Kai's birthday because of his shenanigans."

Shenanigans? The 1950's passed 5 decades ago, Ken.

"Speaking of Kai's birthday," Hillary spoke up, looked around the room, and squinted her eyes in distrust. "Maybe we should go somewhere more private."

-----

"MY BEYBLADE BRINGS ALL THE NEWBS TO THE DISH, AND THEY'RE LIKE "I'M BETTER THAN YOU", NO WAY, I'M BETTER THAN YOU, I COULD TEACH YOU, BUT YOU'RE JUST A NEWB..."

"Max says the strangest things in his sleep." Kenny noted.

"Mhm." I agreed.

While we were heading up to Max's room to talk more about Kai's party, Tyson and Daichi pretty much emptied out any and all liquids from the fridge to bring upstairs. Reason? "Destroying the dojo really tires out a guy." Having a three word conversation with either of you works up more of a sweat. But that's just one retard's opinion.

"Hey Tyson, pass me a drink." He picked up a random bottle and handed it to me.

Salad dressing. Real thirst quenching.

"All right!" Hillary spoke in a raised voice to get our attention. "We pretty much have everything bought for Kai's birthday party. Supplies, ordered the cake, decorations... yup, pretty much done. Except the guest list."

"Guest list?" Kenny, Tyson and I said in unison. Daichi looked at us with wide eyes, feeling left out.

"Uh... guest list?" Nice recovery, Daichi.

"Well yeah! We have to invite people, don't we? We should obviously invite..."

Oh, my god. There's a spot on Max's carpet. Hillary can drone on and on for all I care for. I need to clean that. I mean look at it! It's just brown and disgusting. Max's carpet is white so it's pretty noticeable, and-no. You know what? I'm not going to clean that. I have to learn to stop obsessing over stupid thing like that. I'm not going to clean-yes. No! Yes I will- no. No. No. No. Okay, you know what? I'm going to clean that stai- no!

"Hey, look! Squished brown Smartie! Dibs!" Daichi said and he ate the Smartie.

Well...uh. Wow. Problem solved.

"Yay! I have a basic guest list all made out. All I need to do is get invitations and mail them now. But you guys, you have a lot of work ahead of you." Hillary said, matter-of-factly.

"Work? What... work?" Tyson questioned.

"PUMPERNICKLE!"

"Oh, you'll see." Hillary said as a demonic smile slowly spread on her pale-skinned face.

-------

Urgh, I'm beat. Triple checking every list, double checking to see if we have everything we need for the party and_ then _putting everything back in alphabetical order is not as easy as it sounds, and it sounded excruciating to start with. **Especially** with dumb and dumber arguing about who gets a piece of cake at the party first and then having Sleeping Beauty in the back screaming "Bunnies will dominate North Dakota!", "TURTLES GIVE BIRTH TO CHICKENS!", "Mickey mouse watches you while you sleep..." and so much more that If I even mention it I'll give myself a brain hemroid. Oh, and if you're wondering, Max's shoulder is fine. We put an ice pack on his head while he was sleeping, and he should be back to his normal self by tomorrow morning.

God help us all.

"Urg," I groaned and flopped right onto my bed with closed eyes."I hate planning this stupid party..." Then I suddenly realized that the other side of the mattress was also dipped down. The other side, the side I was not lying on. I started raising my head from the pillow it was currently dug into. What the-

**"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

I fell onto the ground screaming, clinging onto the left side of my chest, coughing violently.

"Would you mind keeping the noise to a minimum?" Satan asked monotonously, still keeping his eyes on the book he was reading.

Yup, that's what every cool kid does nowadays. Gives people heart attacks and then tells them to keep in down.

"Yeah, sure." I had completely forgotten that Kai was staying with me tonight. Stupid memory. If it was in better condition I wouldn't have just had a cardiac arrest. I sat upright, and ran my fingers through my jet-black hair. I looked back to Kai, who was reading a copy of _The Catcher in the Rye, _flipping a few pages every minute or so. I sat up on the bed, already in my pyjamas, with teeth brushed and all. Totally ready to sleep. Except the lights are on because a certain demonic soul is still reading. I (noticeably) sighed. He flips another page. I sighed, louder this time. He keeps his eyes on the book. I groan. I yell. I kick the mattress. He flips a page. I roll my eyes, glad he couldn't see that. 

"_StopReadingAndGoToSleep_." I said, trying to make it sound like I was groaning, but failing miserably."_YouKnow, ForASmartGuy, YouDon'tTakeHintsVeryEasily. IMean,LookAtMe, TalkingThroughAFrustratedGroan, AndYou'reStillReading. ICouldJustBeAnnoyingAndStupidAllNightAndYouWouldn'tNotice.Watch.Blah, I'mTheBoogieMan! Blah, ILikeBlood.ItTastesLikeAppleJuice,Blah! EvenThoughIDon'tReallyLikeAppleJuice, I'mJustTryingzToMakeAPoint, Blah! AndYouKnowOrangeJuiceTastesBetter-"_

I stop mid-sentence to see a confused adolescent Russain staring at me with a cocked eyebrow and a look that just read "That-blow-to-the-head-the-others-told-me-about-did-some-serious-damage". He had finally put his book down, and was waiting for an explanation. When I didn't give one, he started talking.

"What were you doin-"

"Nothing." I cut Kai off.

"But you were just-"

"Nope."

"Yes, you were-"

"Nuh uh."

"Are you sur-"

"Yes."

"Tell me what you were doing."

"Nope. Good night." I laid down flat on the mattress, turning my back on his so he couldn't see the expression on my face. There was complete silence and a shifting of the mattress coming from my other side, and the lights flicked off. A good 2 minutes passed, and I was just about to drift off until...

"Were you mocking me?"

A cocky smile spread on my face. "In a sense."

The lights flicked back on again and I groaned in annoyance.

"In what sense do you mean, exactly?" He asked. I felt the mattress shift again, which meant he was sitting up.

"Didn't you listen to what I was saying?"

"I was for a while, but I couldn't quite make it out." I guess I didn't fail as miserably as I thought I did.

"It doesn't matter. I'm tired, just let me go to slee-"

"It _does_ matter, especially to my burning curiosity. It's only 9:45 P.M. I'm sure you can spare a minute to explain yourself."

I clenched my teeth together in annoyance. "And If I don't?"

"You'll have to suffer my constant questioning and pestering. I'm quite stubborn, especially when I don't get my way." I had my back turned to him, but I could feel a smirk creeping onto his face.

"I thought being stubborn and annoying was Tyson's job."

I looked back to him from the corner of my eye to see his smirk quickly drop into a scowl. That bitch thinks he can mess with Ray Kon? Well he's wrong. He hasn't been around the block enough times to even try to be as ghetto gangsta as me, yo.

Note to self: Go dunk head in toilet and flush several hundred times to get those words out of what I call a "brain".

"Your bird is about to decapitating itself."

No, that's not enough. I should set my hair on fire and hope the flames burn deep enough to erase that vocabulary from my head.

"Ray? Your pet is teetering dangerously on the edge of life as we know it..."

Maybe a nuclear bomb will do it...

"CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!" I quickly whipped my head around to the familiar squeal of horror, only to see that Bird was already a few inches from landing on the floor. Jumping would be futile, but I still tried.

Hey, have you ever tried to jump off of your bed to reach somewhere that was about, oh, 6 feet away from you? Did you find it didn't work? Yeah well, join the fricken' club.

Oh no, poor Bird. Poor, poor, poor, poor, Bird. He never even had a chance! Admit it, with someone like me taking care of him he should have offed himself a long time ago. I can't even bring myself to raise my head off the ground. How will I go on?! I'll-

"You know, your head the floor seem to bond alot more than what's considered normal."

I looked up to see Kai, standing there with one hand on his hip and the other holding-

"OH MY GOD! BIRD!" I cried with joy as I grabbed him and press him softly against my chest. I could only guess that while Kai tried to warn me, he kept his eyes on bird and leapt to his rescue at the exact right moment. "I can't believe I almost lost-"

Wow. What is with this thing and going to sleep after a near-death experience?

Kai looked over to my hand. "You should get that checked by a medical professional."

"I tired. There are no bird-psycho analysts available, at least not in Asia. I really want to know why this thing is so intent on killing itse-"

"No, I meant your hand." He motioned to my right hand, where there was a large gash starting from my lower right side and up until my mid-pinkie. I lifted up said hand and quickly dismissed it.

"It's only a light gash. It didn't penetrate very deep, so at most I only have to put alcohol on it." He stared at me for a little bit, but before I could explain he beat me to the punch.

"You were studying in medicine before you became a professional athlete, correct?"

I gaped in awe. "Yes. Wow, good guess." One of his famous one-sided smile made a appearance on his pale skin. You know, the one where one corner of his mouth raises slightly?

"You're a very able person. I would have expected something like that from you. And from the analysis you made a few minutes ago, I just put two and two together."

"Oh." That was all I could bring myself to say. "Uh, thank you. I've never been told that I'm... able, before. And thanks. For saving Bird."

The small smile grew into a smirk, and I couldn't take my eyes off of him for a minute. God, get a hold of yourself, Ray. I shook my head before he could say anything else and said:

"I'm really tired. Hillary really drove me up a wall with the stuff for yo-" I quickly correct myself "...yoga. Her yoga stuff. Yeah, I'm sticking with that. I just want to go to sleep okay?" He look at me for a second, like he was considering what I just said, and went back to bed. I sighed and placed bird back into his little bed, before I saw bird seeds spread all over his table. I groaned, starting to clean then up and threw them into a nearby trash can. I felt a burning gaze on my back.

"May I ask you a question?"

"You already did, now go to sleep." I walked back to the bed when that raised-corner smile appeared once again on his face. I don't ever think I've ever seen him smile so much.

"May I partake in asking a few more?"

I sighed. "What is it?" I got into bed, fixing the covers.

"If my memory serves me correctly, you were raised in a remote village in China." He paused, and brought both his arms up, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands pressed together at the fingertips, covering his mouth. His eyebrows rose at the top corners, like he was thinking about exactly how to phrase the question he wanted to ask. "I would think that somewhere like that would have very limited access to the more technology-based world. How exactly did they teach without the extra wonders of modern science? Do you find it easier in modern society, where there are digital thermometers and newer medicines, or were you more comfortable with the practice of predicting temperature and using herbs and spices as healing implements? And you must have been 13 when you left the village, yet you have knowledge of the medicinal world. Did they teach specific life courses at a young age?"

The questions took me by surprise. I had to think about it for a while before I could answer. "Well, the system back at my village is very different from how the real world is. Traditionally, kids in the modern world go to school until they're in their late teens, then they start studying specifically on what they want to do in the future. In my village, you started school when you were three. And you weren't placed in a grade by age, either. You were put into knowledge circles by exactly how much you knew and how quickly you could learn."

Kai was still in the same position as before. "I see." He thought for a little while, staring off into the wall. "By knowledge circles, what do you mean exactly?"

A light blush came over my cheeks as I scratched the back of my head. "It means a class. Sorry, I'm just so used to the way they taught us back home."

He nodded. "Continue."

"Uh," I said as I thought. "There are exactly 9 "grades" you need to pass. And passing depends on how well you do. Just like how it is here, each "grade" takes a year, but the difference is that in the village if you fail the test of growth and intelligence, you have to repeat the whole year." My eyes widened as I realized what I had just said. "The test of growth and intelligence is like a final exam." I was a little embarrassed. I sound like a cave man with _very, very,_ _vey_ limited vocabulary. When Kai didn't say anything, I decided to continue. "So, If you study and do what you're told you officially finish your basic education when you're twelve. After that, you go onto something like what they have here. Kind of like a university or a college, but it's a little different."

"How so?" He asked curiously, finally making eye contact with me.

"Well, for starters, there is a very limited amount of jobs you can actually choose to pursue. Our village is very small, and most people don't even get an education. They become hunters or farmers, and make a living that way. Money isn't used in our society. Instead, we trade, like back in the middle ages. They did that in the middle ages, right?" I asked, again embarrassed by how little I knew of modern society's leaning. He nodded, and I continued. "If you study and have an actual job that involves education, you are _very_ respected by the other village members. It's insane, really. Teachers in today's world are so poorly paid and overlooked, but being a teacher in the village gets you so much respect and admiration you'd think that you pulled Jesus out of the way of a speeding car or something. "

An amused smile appeared one Kai's face, and I in turn smiled back. "Before you start you "university", you have to choose what you actually want to be, see how many years it will take to finish your education and officially have a job, and finally and most importantly see if your family approves."

Kai cocked an eyebrow at the last 8 words I spoke. "Why?"

I sighed. He's like a toddler, questioning everything I say. "Because, family is the most important thing in the White Tiger tribe. It's very important. Before my grandfather died, he always stressed the importance of family. He told me, "If a family member is about to be tackled by a wild boar, you jump in front of it to save that person! I don't care who it is, you do it, no questions asked!"" I mimicked his old, tired voice while rolling my eyes.

"I'm taking it you didn't enjoy your grandfather's company very much?"

"Gee, how did you know?" I asked sarcastically and continued. "My father, now that's a whole different story. He's a very laid-back kind of person, which is very hard to find in the White Tiger tribe. Everyone is pretty strict about future and social standings, but my father didn't care about it very much. Since the head male of a famly is usually a younger male with children, everyone always takes his opinion above all. He told me that I could choose whatever life I wanted for myself. He said that the most important thing in life is enjoying how you spend it, and that life is for living, not being concerned over how others view you. He just wanted me to be happy." A small smile appeared on my face, remembering the speech my father gave me, years ago.

"Did you like your father?" Kai asked with a warm-hearted smile.

I nodded. " It made me really happy that my dad cared about _me_, and_ not _how the village viewed him. My father is currently the top medical professional of the White Tiger tribe." I said as a proud smile spread on my face. "Everyone always wanted me to follow in his footsteps, and I wanted to become a teacher or a priest just so I could show everyone I could be useful without my father's influence. But then when I was choosing jobs, I realized how much I loved my father. I _did_ want to follow in his footsteps. Not because that's what everyone wanted, but because that was what _I _wanted." My smile grew, remembering how ecstatic my father was when I told him I wanted to become a doctor.

"You can deceive the mind, but never the heart." Kai said.

"What?" I asked.

"You can tell yourself something so many times, that you'll soon believe it's true yourself, but your heart knows otherwise. Your heart is who you are, and you can never deceive yourself, Ray." He said, his eyes blurry and lost, like he was thinking about something far, far away.

"Oh." A soft smile came to my lips. "That's a good saying to live by."

He nodded, and his eyes refocused. He looked at me, and I realized he wanted me to continue. "I studied under medicine for 2 years, but beyblading had always been a passion of mine. Whenever I received a 18 or high on a test, since we're usually graded out of 20, I would reward myself by beyblading. I would study hard, all through the night, just so I could get good marks and therefore beyblade. I became very knowlegable in medicine, and an even better beyblader. And when we studied, we didn't do hands-on stuff like they do here, because our small village usually had illnesses people caught from the animals, since most of the men survive by hunting. We don't have any STDs or SARS since no one had STDs to start with and because no family living in the White Tiger tribe had bad medical histories. Plus, the men are very careful when hunting, since some plants and animals can cause cancer. In our entire village history we have only had 4 recorded cases of cancer. And even more luckily, they were in older males whose times in this world were almost at an end anyways. So in conclusion, studying wasn't as hard as it would be in the modern world." I finished, and took a deep breath. I slumped against the headboard, exhausted.

Kai smiled cockily. "Did my question tire you?"

I rolled my eyes. "I was tired before the questions, smart one. They just added to the already huge amount of annoyance in my life, for your information."

An utterly sweet and surprising smile spread on Kai's face. Was he going to say something nice? For once, in all the time we've known each other, was he going to say something friendly? Something like, oh I don't know, a_ friend _would say?

"I'm so glad I added to the frustrations of your life. I know I'll be having fantastic dreams tonight for my wonderful actions." Kai said, the sweet albeit** fake **smile still on his stupid, ugly, not pretty, uh... stupid face. Give me a break. You try giving a life story then expected to come up with insults you, you...stupid!

I managed to put a big scowl on my face, even though I was fighting the urge to laugh at his (I hope) joke. "I hate you."

"That's mean."

"Mean? _**You**_**'re** talking to _**me**_ about mean?"

"No, I'm not talking to you at all anymore. You have upset me. Good night."

"_**I**_ UPSET _**YOU**_?! WHY I-"

And before I could continue, the lights were flicked off, and Kai had his back turned to me. I knew I could continue the fight, but Kai was the ultimate master of ignoring people, and beating them to a fine pulp if they made him mad enough. For my own sake, and of those of my future children who didn't want to be mocked because of their disconfigured father, I kept my mouth shut. I was still angry and sitting upright, so I "unfortunately" kicked Kaibefore settling into the bed comfortably, with my back turned to him. When I didn't get a response, I got even angrier.

"You better sleep with one eye open tonight, Hiwatari. Bird isn't the only thing that "accidently" falls off high surfaces onto the cold, hard floor, you know."

Then I closed my eyes and drifted into an awkwardly peaceful slumber.

-----  
_**Wooooah. **_This chapter was around 7400 words. Again: _**Wooooah.**_ I didn't even think I knew that many words. Read and Review, please.


	7. This Is Why I Need Theme Music

**Author: **Neiize****

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or anything else that brings in a sufficient amount of money, for that matter. What I do own is the story line and plot that go on in my story and the occasional OC, but that is all. I write for the sake of writing, and nothing more.**  
**  
**Warning: **Mild Swearing(Seriously, get used to it.)**  
**  
**Author's Notes: **SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY.

I know you don't want to hear my sad story, so let's just make it short: work. And lots of it. I worked on this bit by bit every few days, and finally got it done. For any readers I have left, forgive the lacking-esqe vibe I got from it when reading back. It just doesn't seem like my best to me.

Enjoy.

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_  
_"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Is me having to do this form of torture against myself completely and utterly necessary?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Really, really, really sure?"

"Yes, Ray."

"If this was a test, you'd fall right on your ass. You never double check your work, do you, Hillary?"

"Just suck it up. You should be flattered that you're the only one I trust to go out into public with him that's not me."

"...So basically, you know I'm the only one who has enough heart and dough stored up to bail him out of jail for whatever act of public indecency he gets arrested for."

"Pretty much, yeah."

I groaned angrily as I sat down on the couch in Max's room, hoping the groaning of the springs would add an "I HATE YOU MORE THAN THE TRIX BUNNY HATES THOSE DAMN KIDS, HILLARY" effect, but sadly it did not. The aforementioned blonde was running around the large space with several Smarties marking his trail as he went. The trail wouldn't be there for long though. I have a sneaking suspicion that red-haired, green-eyed, weired-gaping-hole-thing-in-the-middle-of-their-forehead leprachauns these days do not have a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but a hidden stash of dropped Smarties and Skittles. I will bet you any amount of money that this stash is kept in a big pot labelled "FIVE SECOND RULE", or more appropriately "HANDS OFF. THAT MEANS YOU, TYSON!"

Stay on track, Ray. Current issue here? I'm being forced to do something against my will. Correction: I'm being forced to do something against my will _again_. Seriously, I have to stop this "nice guy" shit. Let me tell you, not only is the saying "the nice guy finishes last" completely and undefiably true, but he also finishes with a couple of broken ribs, a fractured skull, and a desperate need for a dozen or so therapists. Take my advice: when leaving a pay-for-parking area, do **not **kindlytell Tyson he doesn't have the right change when the others were too hesitant to do so. His anger at not being able to do math properly is only succeeded by someone _telling _him he can't do math properly. Long version short: I still twitch at toll booths to this very day.

Isn't it funny how every embarassing and scarring event in my short life almost always leads back to Tyson? From making sure I chew when I eat (the E.R. staff didn't have an easy time removing that chicken bone that was lodged into his throat, and Kai has and even uneasier time keeping his roaring laughter to a minimum), to always, always, **always** tying my shoelaces (the E.R. staff also had a problem removing the mini skate board toys that somehow ended up lodged into his nostril when he landed on the bottom of the stairs this time, and Kai still had a problem with his sadism). And who could ever forget: don't ever try to heat yourself up on a cold February night by setting your hair on fire. Thankfully, the E.R. staff had a night off for that one evening. We're pretty damn lucky that Kai was quick with a bucket of water during stressful circumstances like that or I'd be behind bars for the first degree murder of Tyson Granger, right after I got out of the hospital after being treated for third degree burns, of course. Do you know what's even worse? The clump of blueberry vomit Tyson calls "hair" wasn't damaged in even one way. It stayed perfectly the same. Which, might I add, is proof to my theory that his "hair" is some kind of indestructable monster made from blueberry mufins and years of not showering. Did I tell you about the theory? No? Well, that's a story for another time.

My mind is obviously straying off topic to avoid the unavoidable near future. What exactly were Hillary and I discussing? Well, any human on this earth that can infer the tiniest of details would know that answer without even having to second guess. See, look. Stalling again. I hate it when I'm under stress like this. I keep using these gigantic words that I don't even understand sometimes, just so I forget what I'm trying to forget in the first place. It's really irritating. Dose my subconcsious actually believe that me forgetting something that I'm supposed to forget actually helps me forget? But, in a sense, me forgetting something big that's not very forgetful in the first place trying to forget something... that... uh, I'm trying to...

What was I talking about?

Ah, who cares? If you haven't already guessed what's going to happen soon, then I'm going to spell it out for you. Why? For pity's sake. If I can't worm my way out of this one, maybe I can use all the pity I can gather as a shield, or better yet, a muzzle for the pig. You see, this afternoon I have been designated to go pick up the cake for Kai's party. It's not one of those normal cakes, either. No, no, no. Do you people know Hillary Tachibana at all? If she bought only one single cake, I'd guess she'd be using it to drown Daichi and/or Tyson while he/they sleep. She's going all out on this one. She bought a layer cake, with the top layer measuring up to the circumfrence of my head. The lowest layer? Considering the top is about the size of my head, the lowest would have to be something colossal, like the size of Tyson's ass, for example. And because of the gigantic size of this pastry, loading it into the car is a two man job. Now when I say the term "two man", I'm using the second "man" in that phrase very loosely. I mean, who of all people would consider-

"OH, RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"

Oh god.

Tyson popped his fat little head into the doorway of Max's room and put a big goofy smile on his face. "What time did Hillary say we should go pick up lunch- I mean, Kai's cake?"

"3 o'clock," I stated monotonlessly, still mentally cringing at the all the possible outcomes that could happen this afternoon.

Tyson's face unexpectantly dropped into a pout. I kept my mouth closed for a second, but sighed and caved in. "What's wrong now?" He kept the pout on his face while walking into the room and ploughing himself down onto the couch. There's probably an earthquake going on downstairs as we speak from the impact.

"That's not a good time for me," Tyson said simply, keeping his eyes on the Smarties Daichi had now stored into a pouch he had made by rolling up his shirt.

"What a shame."

"I have lunch around then. You'll have to wait a while." I was being sarcastic, pig.

"So, we're set for 3:05 then?"

"You know," He said in a more interested tone as he tilted his head to the right and looked directly at me. "When I was six or something, I had this penny jar. Hiro made it up, what a dumbass. Anyways, everytime I swore I had to put a penny into it. By the end of the month, or week or something, I can't remember, I had a butt-load of pennies in it. It was so damn heavy, even Gramps had trouble carrying it."

My face had contorted into a completely and utterly lost expression. "Why are you telling me this...?"

"Because, man! The day it happened, it was the 305th day on the calender and we stopped count at 305 and then took it up again and look, the jersey Max's wearing says 305 on it. And you just said 3:05, like 305. It reminded me of it," He scratched his head, probably trying to shake the flees out.

"That happened over a decade ago. How could you have even remembered that?" I asked doubtfully, trying to detect if this was one of Tyson's far-fetched lies again.

He grinned. "I'm like that. Sometimes I have the weirdest flashbacks. It's like I'm Spiderman or something."

I cocked an eyebrow. "We saw that movie last year together, didn't we? He didn't do that. Spiderman shoot webs from his wrists."

"Yeah but hell! He was so damn cool, he should have had a future-seeing thingy too. Then they could have called him sidekick!"

Wait. Side...kick? I mentally rolled my eyes at what he really meant. "Don't you mean psychic?"

A look of annoyance and superiority crossed Tyson's features while he tapped the tip of his nose with his index finger. "You can't kick a sigh, stupid. Looks like _**someone**_ needs to go back to school."

I was just about to open my mouth to retort when Tyson suddenly sprang up from the couch yelling "POODLE MONKEY FLAMING TIRE ON A LIBIDO!" While I cocked my head to the right to stare at Tyson, he ran off faster than Kai chasing a shiny weapon and grabbed a large handful of the Smarties out of Daichi's pounch. Tyson ran off in a fenzey, yelling "TAKE FREAKIN' COVER, THE LEPRACHAUN'S LOOSE AND _PISSED!_" Damn, Daichi really is going to break something valuable in the...

Heeeeeeey...

Wait a second...

THE PIG STOLE MY NICKNAME!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but have I not always refered to Daichi as "The Leprechaun"? I mean, there's so much more to insult, but this is like a pot of gold here! Look at that, I did it again. A pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? The things leprechauns keep/guard? Get it? GET IT? Oh, I crack myself up sometimes.

"Ray! Hillary says to get your butt down here! You have half an hour to eat, then go pick up the... NOT A CAKE!" Oh so subtle, Max. He was yelling from downstairs, and I didn't even notice him leaving the room.

"Cheap!" I turned around to see Bird in his nest, finally awake.

"How are we doing today?" I asked bird with a smile as I knelt down to get a good look at him.

"Cheap!"

"Uh... I'll take that as a "Spectacular, Raymond, and you?""

"...Cheap!" Aw, he's so cute when I remind myself he's only a bird and not an intellectual human being. Yes he is!

"Holy crap. You've gotten big, huh?" I patted his head with my index finger, noticing how large he had grown. He was nearly 3 times as big as he was since the first day he hatched. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he looked almost like an adult now... Naaaaah!

"RAY! HILLARY IS YELLING AT ME TO YELL AT YOU TO-"

"ALRIGHT! I'M COMING!" I groaned angrily and kept glaring at the stairs just incase The Blonde Wonder decided to come upstairs and yell into my ear, not that it would make a difference. "I'll see you later buddy, oka-"

Why the hell does this thing keep falling asleep whenever I talk to it? When Tyson or Daichi are harrasing him, he has no problem staying up and "cheap"-ing for them. But for me, his sole care provider? Out like a cheap dollar-store light.

I glared at him for a while until a perfectly childish idea sprang to mind. I looked around the room a few times and looked back to Bird with an evil grin on my face. I casually shifted a bit closer to my unconscious pet, being careful not to make a sound. When I was close enough, and the coast was clear, I quickly jabbed my finger into his little-bitty tummy and ran off like Max chasing the Ben and Jerry mascot that one time we went to a tournament in Vermont. (Max would not shut up about us taking him to the factory conveniently located there. Conclusion: never put Max in a room that includes normal sugary ice cream, and then an enlarged, fake version with a living, elderly man inside it. That day, we all learned a very vauable lesson: hip surgery is not a cheap thing to pay for.)

I heard Bird squeak as I ran out the room, with a devilish smirk on my face and a psychotic cackle escaping my lips. I looked back to see Bird's annoyed expression, which soon turned into his little beady eyes trying to get back to sleep. That'll teach hi-

_**CRASH  
**_  
WHO THE HELL PUT THIS WALL HERE?!

I groaned in agony and cupped a hand over my nose in pain. I was leaning against the wall, and every fricken' thing hurt. I was pretty dizzy, and after a while lost balance and collasped onto the floor, still holding my nose. It hurt like a bitch, and so did my legs. It was even worse because I was laying on them, so I tried rolling around on the floor and kicking the air to get more comfortable. When that didn't work I tried to massage them, but since I was temporary-blind, it kind of came out more like swatting at them. My forehead was pressed against the floor the whole time, so I rolled onto my side, took a deep breath, and opened my eyes-

Oh, shit.

"What in God's name are you doing?" Kai asked, bewildered.

Again: Oh, shit.

I lay on the floor, staring like an idiot at Kai. My eyes unfocued as I stared, but quickly refocused again. "I was, uh..."

Kai held one hand up, palm forward. "No need to explain. I completely understand."

"You do?" I asked in surprise, and a bit of joy that I wouldn't have to think of a crap excuse to put me in an even more awkward condition.

He nodded once, and quickly walked passed me, heading into my room. But not before me catching him mumbling: "I understand that you're a complete lunatic."

"Hey! Just wait a God damn second!" I exclaimed in anger, while struggling to get up. He mumbled something again, but I didn't quite catch it.

"What?" I asked stupidly, all the tough-guy anger I was building up completely dissapearing.

"Don't use The Lord's name in vain," he repeated.

"Oh. Sorry."

"As you should be," he said while wakling into my room and closing the door behind him.

I started walking down the hallway in a slight daze. I felt kind of stupid, actually. He must be pretty religious, huh? I've been wondering about Kai lately. I know this might be surprising, but the conversation I had with him last night was the longest conversation I've had with him. Keep in mind, he only said 3 sentences at the most. We're not very close, Kai and I.

Duh, Ray.

Anyways, I've been thinking about him a lot. I have a lot of little questions stored up in the back of my head for him, and I want to catch him completely off guard with it, like he did me. Stupid bastard got more out of me than a timeshare salesman when he lures people into his "no strings attached" information lectures that lead up to "free prizes".

One thing I thought about was religion. I've always wondered what Kai believed in. Since he's from Russia, I'm guessing he's either some form of Christianity or Jewish. Most of the population there is...right? I'm not even going to chance me being wrong. Right, it's completely right. But you know, he could have converted himself or something. Maybe he's an Atheist, whatever the hell that is.

"Hey, Ray." I snapped out of my thoughts and looked towards the source of the sound.

"Oh, hey cheif."

"Where's Bird?" Kenny asked. Ever since I got Bird, Kenny's been attatched to him. I guess it's because he spends about his his day baby sitting him. It's kind of weird actually. I mean, of all the things-

I gasped as Kenny's question quickly registered in my mind. "He's upstairs alone!" I exclaimed. "No, wait! He's not alone!" I cried in relief. But then I remembered who exactly he was with, and my eyes widened in fear. "DEAR GOD, NO!"

"I'm on it," Kenny said, already half way upstairs.

"Is he with Kai?" Tyson asked. (When'd he get here?) By the look on my face, I think he knew the answer was yes. "OH CRAP! RUN, CHEIF, RUN!" Tyson yelled upstairs. I sighed and started towards the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. You know what they say: don't go out dying on an empty stomach.

"Hey, Ray?" I turned around with tupperware, containing chicken leftovers last night. I looked up to see the familiar annoyance in my line of sight.

Tyson stared at me for a second, tapped his lips with his index finger, and started laughing. Bewildered, I looked behind me. "No, no!" Tyson said in between laughs. "It's 'cuz I said "Hey, Ray"."

I cocked an eyebrow.

"IT RHYMES, STUPID!"

Slow paces, Ray. You know how the mentally incapable are with sudden movements...

"What are you two still doing here?!" A high-pitched female voice screeched behind me. Someone running their nails over a blackboard would be more enjoyable to listen to, for Christ's sake!

"Ray still has to eat, _Hillary,_" Tyson mimicked Hillary's shreak.

"Well hurry it up!" She called running downstairs into the basement.

"Yes, Raymond. Hurry it up, will you?" Tyson asked. I sighed angrily and stuffed the tupperware back into the fridge carlessely.

"Let's just go," I groaned, grabbing my jacket and quickly putting it on.

"You sure? You haven't eaten yet." Oh gee. Brilliant observation there, Ty.

"I'm sure. The sooner we get this over with, the better." I stated firmly.

Tyson shrugged, but suddenly stopped and stared dead on at the spot in the wall. After a few seconds of not moving or breathing, I got kind of concerned.

"Tyson...?"

"OH MY GOD!" He cried, finally snapping out of his phase.

"What?!" 

"Nothing, dumbass. Let's go." And then he waltzed effortlessly right past me and out the door.

"...The...hell?" I stuttered. I groaned angrily at my being confused and stamped my foot childlishly on the ground, yelling: "Freakin' Asains!" 

-----

I sighed loudly, for about the tenth time in the past hour. Turns out the idiots running this place forgot to call and tell us that the cake would be an hour late.

So, here I am. Sitting alone in the corner of the pastry section of Sobey's.

"Hey, did you see that!? That piece of lint rolled all the way down the aisle!"

Oh, wait. Not alone. Blueberry haired pig, stage left.

"I'm bored," Tyson stated for about the millionth time.

"Glad to know!" I barked, my nerves completely shot. Tyson sighed quietly and suprisingly stayed silent for a good fifteen minutes.

"Kai's been getting nicer."

I opened my eyes and stared at Tyson and thought about his random remark.

"It's true. You don't really talk with him a lot, so you wouldn't know. But he's not as angry as he always is. And he swears less."

"Uh, that's good," I replied, now staring at the blank ceiling.

Tyson laughed. "You're damn right it's good! My ass has been bitten off by him enough as it is."

I laughed too. "That would stop if you, oh I don't know, stopped flooding his bathroom, for example?"

"Stop flooding his bathroom, huh?" He thought about it for a second and shook his head. "Naaaw!"

I chuckled quietly, and Tyson talked in a gentle tone.

"It's 'cuz of you, you know."

I averted my eyes from the ceiling, glanced at him, and went back to the ceiling. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, 'cuz there's no other reason. Nothing else has changed, except for you two talking more 'cuz you're sharing a room and stuff,"

"Oh, come on. I'm sure it's another reason. Our conversations don't even last more than fifteen minutes and-"

"YOU HAVE CONVERSATIONS!?!?" Tyson exclaimed loudly, causing the nearby stock girl to drop the boxes of delicate pastry puffs onto the ground. She stared at the floor where the smushed puffs had landed emotionlessly, but sure enough her hands balled into fists as she angrily started stepping down from the ladder she was on.

Summary? Boiling estrogen at 3 o'clock!

Tyson swallowed the lump in his throat and got up defensively. Rather than appologizing sincerly and assuring her it would never happen again, what he says goes more like this:

"PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" Then he throws his arms around his face for proection.

The Boiling Estrogen was just about to spew, when I interupted. "Excuse me, miss?"

Here comes good 'ol Ray, to the rescue. I really need some theme music...

"My friend didn't mean any harm," I said sincerly, with one of my better smiles plastered on my face. "We were discussing a few things, and he was shocked and merely raised his voice to emphasise his surprise. I hope that we haven't caused you any more inconvienience than we already have,"

She listened to my words and smiled a shy smile. "It's alright. No harm done, right?"

I smiled back. "Right,"

And with that, the stockgirl walked away a little giddy, completely forgetting about the crushed mess on the floor. I think-

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!?!" Tyson bellowed into my ear.

And yes, ow.

I sighed while sticking a finger in my ear. "Someone of your stature would not be bestowed with such great gifts,"

He stares at me blankly.

I sighed. "_**You**_ can't do it," I translated.

"...Oh." He blinked twice and continued. "Anyways, it is 'cuz of you. That Kai is getting nice and all. And you need to know that."

I sighed doubtfully. "And why would I need to know that, Tyson?"

"'Cuz, he's happier." Tyson stated firmly. "He's my friend, no matter how much we argue or fight. I want my friends to be happy. So if talking to you makes him happy, then I want you to keep talking to him. I mean, if talking to me made _YOU_ happy, and of course I know it does-"

"HA!" I scoffed.

"- _AND I KNOW IT DOES_," Tyson emphasised. "So I talk to you a lot." He concluded with a smile.

Oh, happy days.

"Do you really think it's me?" I asked seriously, making eye contact.

He nodded without hesitation. "Definitely. I know you don't like him that much, but for him. Please?" Tyson asked, pressing his hands together like he was praying.

I sighed. I'm such a push over. "Fine," I caved.

"Number 57!" A high pitched female voice called from the speaker system.

"Number 57!" Tyson cried in anger while searching his pockets for our ticket number. "What was out number? Like, 100? We're never going to..." He trailed off, looking at the ticket he pulled out of his jacket for a second. "HOLY CRAP! WE'RE 57! FINALLY!"

I got to my feet as Tyson dashed off to the counter.

"GIVE ME MY DESSERT!" He wailed.

I _really_ need some theme music for the shit I'm about to pull...

----

"Would you turn off the fricken' light?!" I practically yelled at the adolescent Russain reading next to me in bed.

He sighed, annoyed. "I'm reading," said captain ovbious.

"Well duh," I retorted. His eyes quickly bounced from his book, to me, back to the book, and then to me again.

"Perhaps you should take an interest in reading," Kai sugested. "It's quite relaxing."

"You know what's even more relaxing? Being able to go to sleep without hearing a turn of the page every 2 seconds, or that annoying light being on, or you breathing-"

"I _**have**_ to breath." Kai stated with a cocked eyebrow, book still in hand and eyes still on book.

"You don't _**have**_ to, you _**want**_ to." I corrected. "I mean, you could just kill yourself right now. You could give yourself enough papercuts so that-"  
_**  
WHACK**_

The bitch just slapped me in the forehead with his crusty book!

"_Wuthering Heights_," He stated, still keeping the aforementioned book at my forehead. "A true classic. It was published in 1847. It had the people of its time in an uproar, wanting more of this masterpiece. Sadly, Emily Bronte, the author, died a year after it's publication." He dropped his hand and hopped off the bed effortlessly, and went into the walk in closet. I stared in wonder until he came back.

"Though I think you would prefer this."

He held out his hand, containing a small paperback book. I took it out of his hand and read the title on the front cover. "_The Catcher in the Rye_," 

He nodded and got back into bed. "Also a classic. Not quite as old as the previous I mentioned, it was first published in 1951. It's more of a book that teenagers could relate to, and many modern-day cultural references lead back to it."

I stared at the book and recognized it. Wasn't he reading this himself a little while ago? "Is it written in old times-ish? Like that shakey-spears guy? Because I have no idea what he's trying to tell me about who's fair and who's fairer dagger is trying to-"

He interrupted me. "It's not, I assure you,"

I stared at the book in doubt while flipping carelessely through it.

"It's very good," He said, looking directly at me. I suddenly became more aware of myself. "It's more than meets the eye, especially with all the subtexts and intellectual thoughts contained in this book you wouldn't even give a second thought about."

By the look on my face, I think he could tell that I didn't think that was such a good thing._**  
**_  
"I wouldn't give it to you if I didn't think you wouldn't enjoy it. You're a very intellegent individual, Ray."

I stared at him for the second. How the hell does this bastard keep catching me off guard like this?

"Oh. Well, thanks. I'll try to read it as often as I can." I said, placing it on my nightstand.

"I'm pleased to hear that." He said, and he actually smiled.

I grabbed the covers and settled into bed, expecting a good night's sleep. Then I heard a clicking on lights being turned on, and the sound of pages being turned. Could what Tyson said be true? Is he getting nicer because of me? Well, if he's getting nicer, maybe I should try it.

"Kai, would you stop reading, please?" I asked in angry politeness.

"I don't think I quite like your tone,"

"Turn off the fricken light, you stubborn ass!"

"I don't think I quite like you're tone,"

"You can't possibly read that thing all night," I assured "You have to stop sometime." This look crossed his feautures, and I begin to doubt my own words. "...Don't you?"

He smiled a confidently coy smile at me. "Shall we find out?" Contradictory to his facial expression, his tone was nothing less than polite and sincere.

..."ASS!" I yelled.

Kai started to laugh, and he finally put the book down. "Alright, get some sleep for not only my, but your sake as well, hm?"

"You sound like you're doing me a favour," I mumbled as the lights finally went off.

"Tomorrow, I promise I won't bother you like that again. I swear it."I stared at him for a while, a little surprised at his kindness.

Then I burst out laughing.

"What?" Kai asked. "What are you laughing at?!"

"Your lies!" I answered in between laugh. "They amuse me ever so much," I teased.

"I was being serious," He assured me. He sounded pretty sincere, too.

Was what Tyson said really true? Was Kai actually getting nicer? And is it my doing?

"Well," he spoke up "I promise I won't bother you in that way again. With the lights and page turning and such. But, as for other ways of annoyance?" He smiled coyly. "You're in trouble."

I groaned as I dug my head into my pillow.

Note to self: ask Tyson for his definition of "nice".

----

Read and Review, please. 


	8. The Return Of The Bunny: Part 1

**Author:** Neiize

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Beyblade or anything else that brings in a sufficient amount of money, for that matter. What I do own is the story line and plot that go on in my story and the occasional OC, but that is all. I write for the sake of writing, and nothing more.

**Warning: **Mild Swearing

**Author's Notes:** Alright, a few people have mentioned something like this in reviews:

"What ever happened to the blackmail thing?"

I have been wanting to write this chapter for the longest time, which is why I updated so quickly. My answer to your question?

You'll see.

Enjoy.  
---  
_  
Tick, tick, tick..._

**Clank**

Oops. Kicked the table.  
_  
Tick, tick, tick...  
__**  
**_**Swish**

He turns _another _page in his god damn book.

_Tick, tick, tick...  
_**  
Cough**

Ugh. This is depressing.

_Tick, tick, tick..._

**BANG**

"MY FREAKING THUMB! OW!"

I jumped up and down in pain, nearly biting a hole in my tongue. I clamped one hand tenderly against my throbbing thumb.

"Holy mother-loving Jesus! Freakin' table! The hell is its problem?!"

"Ahem," Kai cleared his throat subtly. He shot a glance in my direction, to his book, then to me, then back to the book. I sighed.

"If you need me, I'll be writhing in pain and crying tears of sorrow and anguish upstairs."

Kai rolled his eyes. "Don't "accidentally" cut yourself, you adolescent teenage girl." I groaned angrily while stomping childlishly upstairs.

I slammed the door to my room and banged my head against the wall.

I hate Hillary.

Even if I haven't mentioned it before, I think this is the most appropriate time for it to be said. There are hundreds, probably thousands of reasons why I do, but can anyone guess this one is particular? No? Time for me to explain.

Kai's birthday is exactly 5 days from now. And, with so many guests coming over for this spectacular event, we aparently need one big-ass table. I have no idea who's coming, so don't try and ask. So, while She-Beast, Pig, Leprechaun, Blonde Wonder, Chief and Bird are out searching for a good one, guess what I'm doing.

Watching over one of the most dangerous and viciously disgusting mammals on this very planet.

That sounds about right. But, if you want to put in in lamens terms: I'm baby-sitting Kai.

I'm pretty mad, but after I found out that_** Bird **_was going and _**not me**_, I was down right pissed. Apparently, Bird is too precious and everyone unanimously decided that he shouldn't be traumatized by watching the likes of Kai, so they took him along with them.

More horror for me.

I heard a knock at the door and sighed. "Come in!" I walked into the bathroom and washed my hands. It's kind of a weird habit for me. Whenever I get nervous I go ahead and wash my hands. It might seem a little creepy, but I'm okay with it. Since I'm an "adolescent teenage girl", I think it's a much better alternative than cutting myself.

I walked out of the bathroom, wiping my moist hands on the back of my shirt. Kai was sitting cross-legged on the bed.

"Is there any particular reason why you've decided to dead-bolt the door, inside and out?" He asked, keeping his tone formal.

"Not really," I answered cautiously. "It's for safety purposes."

"You're a fifth degree backbelt and I've been kick boxing for the past 6 years. I don't think safety is something we should be concerned abou-"

"How did you know I was a fifth degree blackbelt?" I interupted.

He ran a hand through his slate hair. "You mentioned it a while ago. At dinner last week, I believe. Tyson and Daichi were arguing over their ridiculous "manlihood"- he rolled his eyes when he said that- "and you abruptly ended all their spouting by pointing out that you were a martial arts master, and could, I quote, "kick their puny Asain asses anyday". It was quite amusing how quickly the two jackles ran upstairs into their room at night."

I blinked, stunned. "How did you remember that?"

"I have an excellent memory," He smiled a little, but it was more to himself. "I suppose it's because I eat eggs daily."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Eggs have omega fatty acids. These acids help with all contours of your body, but especially with your brain function. Your memory becomes unremarkable; even someone of extremely low intellect could benefit from digesting more of these acids. That reminds me," Kai paused, and looked me directly in the eye. "Feed Tyson more eggs."

I smiled, trying to muffle a laugh. "I'll be sure to do that."

There was an awkward silence, and I searched my brain for anything to talk about, but he beat me to the punch.

"Where did everyone venture off to?" He asked.

"They went to buy a table." I answered automatically. He cocked an eyebrow.

"A table? What for?"

"For your par-" My eyes widened as I stopped myself. "For your par...tial interest. If you'd like to know, I don't know. They didn't tell me."

He groaned, and stood up. "It doesn't matter. I'll be back later," He moved towards the door, but I quickly jumped in front of it.

"No! You can't leave!" I exclaimed.

His eyebrows arched into confusion. "And why can't I?"

"Because, I..." I panicked and blurted the first thing that came to mind. "I want to know more about you!"

His eyes locked on mine, and he blinked a few times before answering. I had a huge lump in my throat, embaressment obvious in my eyes.

"You want to know... more about me?" He asked, curious.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" I answered in an awkward mumble.

His face set into a hard line, and his scowl could break through the Great Wall of China. "Now I _**know**_ there's a specific reason you don't want me leaving this dojo."

"No!" I argued, pressing myself against the door agressively. "There's no reason, I swear." I said while crossing my fingers behind my back.

Kai sighed, peeved. "If you don't want me leaving this house, you should have at least made a more plausible excuse. Would you like a few seconds now to fabricate one?"

"Yes, please."

"Go ahead,"

I turned around to face the door, and massaged my head. Okay, excuses, excuses. I know, they're usually lame and pathetic, but please God, let me think of a good one, now of all times!

"...My foot's itchy?"

"Try again."

I groaned. "Look, let's just not leave the house today, okay? I haven't made dinner yet, and it's 6. They'll probably be back in an hour or so. Could you maybe help me out, just this once?" I asked.

"I'd rather not,"

"It's too bad you don't have a choice in the matter," I grumbled as I grabbed Kai's arm and dragged him downstairs.

"If Japan was a country that provided freedoms for its people, I would argue against that,"

I brought us both into the kitchen and automatically reached for the vegetable crisper in the fridge, and pulled out a bag of onion. I stuffed them into Kai's arms, my head still in the fridge.

"I'm making lasagna. Make yourself useful and cut those up," I ordered.

Kai sighed and opened the bag, taking out one onion and setting in on a cutting board. "Very well. But if some events happen and someone is responsible for someone else's death, I refuse to go to prison or anyplace likewise."

"What?!" I exclaimed, turning around to face Kai in a defensive position. He was smiling.

"I was joking." Kai said. I stayed in the same position, and he rolled his eyes. "You make jokes, and people laugh. Tyson lets out gas and people laugh. I make a joke and peolpe get ready to use life-threatening martial arts moves against me."

I stayed in my position with a smug smile on my face.

"I wonder how much you could damage a person by bombarding them with white, round vegetables..."

"I'll stop."

I pulled out some tomato sauce I had made a few nights before, and kept it on the counter to warm up a bit. I heard the clacking of the knife hitting the cutting board as I grabbed some pasta and a pot out of the cabinet. I got everything ready, and put the pot containing pasta in it on the stove to boil. Alright, now to cut some peppers...

I quickly got a cutting board and a knife from another cabinet, and started chopping the peppers.

That's when the awkward silence sat in.

Well, okay, it wasn't that silent. The multiple sounds of vegetables being cut were clearly audible, but Kai and I were both stiff as the baords we were cutting stuff on top of. I got kind of squirmy and started vibrating my right leg on the floor. Those idiots said they would be back around 7, and-

"What's your favourite meal?" Kai asked suddenly, out of the blue.

I cocked an eyebrow, still keeping my eyes on the vegetable I was cutting, and Kai was doing the same. "Why?"

Kai shrugged. "Just trying to keep up conversation,"

I nodded. "Steak, definately. Veal is pretty good too. Meat in general is a godsent,"

Kai chuckled a bit. "If you said that in Brooklyn's presence, I'd assume he'd send evil woodland creatures after you."

I laughed. "And the forces of the earth, too. He'd probably talk to Air and get me blown off to Afganistan or some other weird-ass country." I looked at Kai from the corner of my eyes, to see that he was smiling. Not a smirk, but just a normal smile.

"What about you? What's your favourite food?"

I looked at Kai, and he shrugged. "Anything will do, as long as it's edible."

"Woah. For a second there, you kind of sounded like Tyson."

Kai stopped cutting and glared at me. "I have a knife, and you have breakable skin. Don't push it."

I shook my head. "And you wonder why people don't laugh at your "jokes"..."

Kai laughed. "I assume it's because I'm not an entertaining individual. You on the other hand, have a very good sense of humor," Kai stated.

What is he talking about? He's pretty damn funny. "I think I'm more mean than funny."

Kai looked at me with a doubtful expression. "If you're mean, then I must be the reincarnation of Satan himself."

I suddenly squeaked a bit, remember the times when I used to call him just that, or "Satan" alone. Did he know? Was he calling me out on it?

"Pardon?" Kai asked, a little confused.

"Nothing." I reponded in a high-pitched voice, the squeak still in my throat.

I think Kai sensed my uncomfortableness, so he changed the subject. "What's your favourite colour?"

And the next hour passed pretty much just like that. He asked me a whole bunch of random little questions that no other person would really care about. The time went by so quickly, though. I kind of... feel bad, for making fun of him before. Really, he's not that mean. I think he's the kind who gets like that only if you provoke him. What I mean is, if you're just standing there minding your own business, he won't suddenly decide to verbally abuse you. But, if you were to, say, beat him uncountable times with mutiple, diffirent large objects, he wouldn't take that very kindly. I regret not getting to know him before. He could have possibly helped keep the sanity I once had.

"Tell me about your family." I stopped pouring sauce onto the pasta to stare at him a little. He was cooking the ground beef, and while he took the pan off the stove, he noticed me staring.

He looked absolutely bewildered, since I kept my eyes on him for so long. He kind of looked around, then behind him, totally confused.

I chuckled. "No, no. I'm not looking at something behind you. It's just that you kept asking me little, meaningless questions, then you jumped into my family. It was a little sudden,"

"I apologize," He said sincerly. "We don't have to discuss it if you're uncomfortable with it." Kai said, as he put the ground beef on top of the pasta.

I shook my head. "No, it's okay. I don't really have a big family. It's just me, my dad, my mom, and my grandmother. Well, that was who I lived with anyways. I had cousins and uncles and aunts too, but not a lot. There's a population crisis in the villiage, and we really need more people to get married and have kids. When I told my mom I was leaving, she said the only good thing was that I could find a pretty girl and give her beautiful grandchildren," I said with a smile, but still rolling my eyes.

Kai nodded, staying absolutely silent.

"What about your family?" I asked in an elevated mood.

Kai's hand suddenly stiffened on the spoon he was using, and he stayed frozen. His eyes grew dark and distant. "I'd rather not talk about that," He snapped in a cold tone.

I was taken back by his sudden change of tone. "O-Okay."

The rest of the time, Kai didn't talk to me at all. He just kept doing what I told him until we were finished, and practically ran upstairs. I sat quietly in the living room, trying to comprehend the sudden change of his mood. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and my head automatically jerked up.

Kai had a electric drill in his hand. He plugged it into a socket, and started unscrewing the dead bolts I had put in before to stop him from leaving. I was too worried to care that he was trying to escape. His family couldn't be that bad, could they? I mean, he's a word famous beyblader and he's got all these freedoms and a whole ton of money. I wonder what happened...

I heard the drill stop, and saw Kai cracking open the door. He grabbed his jacket from the coat hanger angrily, nearly snapping the hanger it was on. He got a look at me, and suddenly stopped putting his jacket on mid-way. He sighed.

"Would you like to come with me?"

I nodded a little too quickly. "Where are you going?"

"Somewhere I like to go to relax," He responded simply, throwing my jacket at me. I quickly put it on and followed him out the door.

It was a really long walk there. First we walked a couple of miles away from the dojo. I was taking some mental notes of Kai's behaviour, and he seem perfectly normal. Or, as normal as Kai can get. Then we got to the outskirts of town, and he stopped at the side of this small, deserted park, and suddenly walked into a bush. Effortlessly. When I saw my surroundings and Kai just walk into the bush, my brain suddenly had a spark. This all seemed kind of familiar, but I couldn't quite remember what exactly I was trying to remember. In any case, I followed him into the forest.

Seriously, this is deja vu. I swear to Jesus Christ himself, I have been here before. But, the question here is: why? Why would I even come to some unknown forest? I would never go out to the outskirts of town by myself. I would most likely get lost. I swear, my blinking alone endagers my chance of getting home on time. So why would I ever come here? There really is no reason. Maybe I've just seen this place in a movie or something. No, it can't be. It looks way too familiar.

Kai stopped walking abruptly, which caught me off guard. I slipped and fell face first onto the muddy floor.

"Are you alright?" Kai asked, titling his head.

"Well, let's see. My face hurts... and my foot's still itchy."

Kai smirked as he held his hand out. I gladly accepted it as I wiped my face with my other hand.

"Luckily for you, we're here."

I looked around my surroundings, and familiarity hit me like Kai's fist and what it does to Tyson's face. I _had_ been here before.

I was absolutely sure of it.

Kai went to sit down against a tree, but I stayed standing. I'm a thousand percent sure I've been here. It's way too familiar, and it's bugging me that I don't remember this place. It's kind of like forgetting your best friend's address: annoying and shameful of you to boot. And-

**"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!

I raised my head from where I had landed, to see that a bunny had jumped out of a bush and landed where I was standing before. That scared the living crap out of me. I jumped and slipped again, landing flat on my back and-

Wait... a bunny?

Then, it all clicked.

The bunny.

Kai petting the bunny.

Holy crap!

THIS IS WHERE I BLACKMAILED KAI!

"You really are a jumpy person," Kai spoke up, and I stood up, wiping the dirt from my clothes. "Just because a rabbit hopped out of a bush, you give yourself cardiac arrest." Kai had his eyes closed, and a blade of grass was sticking out from his mouth.

I laughed a very nervous laugh, and started pacing around the small open space. What the hell am I going to do? I completely forgot about the photos I took. I don't even remember where I put them, for Christ's sake! What if Kai finds them? We share a room, so it's possible. What if he finds them? What'll he think of me, some weird-ass stalker who sells his pictures on fricken' e-Bay to buy night vision goggles?!?

Okay, relax, Ray. Deep breaths now. All your have to do is find the pictures before he can, and ditch them. Burn them. Shred it and give it to Tyson, claiming it's "rectangular popcorn", anything before he finds them.

"You seem to be hyperventilating, and I'm a tad bit concerened," I could barely hear Kai over my own deep breathing.

"No, I'm okay. I'm just a little worried. The guys should be back by now, so we should get going," I was shivering, I was so nervous.

Kai cocked an eyebrow, and let the blade of grass gracefully fall onto the floor as he stood up. "Very well," Then he took the lead as I followed.

I was so nervous, I nearly jumped everytime I took a step. I was so pre-occupied on places where I could have stashed the pictures, I didn't even realize we'd reached home.

Kai opened the door, and looked around. "It seems like they haven't arrived back home yet."

"Yeah, great, bye!" I nearly yelled as I ran upstairs, two stairs at a time. I dashed into my room, closing the door behind me.

Okay, okay. If I was me, where would I hide incriminating photos of former-Satan so that no one would find them? I looked around.

"The closet!"

I ran into the closet, looking between every article of clothes, in every drawer, under suitcases, everywhere anything could be. And still, no luck. Next stop: under the bed.

The only problem was, I was way too big to fit into that dinky little space and look around. I stuck both my arms under, blindly searching around, trying to feel any kind of laminated paper. I pulled out a Mars bar, old beyblade parts, lint, a sharpener, and a few extra blankets, but no photos.

I groaned angrily. I kept searching everywhere: the bathroom, the chest where I dump all my extra things, the laundry hamper, and even under Bird's nest. The photos were no where to be found. I flopped backwards onto my mattress, staring at the ceiling in confusion.

"Where the hell did I put them?" I rolled over, but something hitting my leg stopped me half way through.

The night stand.

Of course! I didn't even check there yet, and there's nothing else! It has to be there! And if it isn't, I would like someone to engrave "I'll be haunting you in the afterlife, Kai" on my tombstone.

I opened the only drawer, to see a whole stack of meaningless papers. Old reciepts, bills, and random scribbles I didn't need anymore. I groaned as I carelessely pulled stacks of the crap out one by one, not caring where they landed. I was through the second last stack of papers. I was positive the last stack was where teh photos were, so when I heard the creaking of the door being opened, I wasn't really concerned. I sighed out of relief, and turned my head to see who had walked in.

That's when I saw them.

A bunch of the photos were scattered agsint the white papers, standing out more than they should. There was a ton of them, and I mentally groaned at the thought of having to pick them up one by one.

"What are these...?"

My eyes widened in complete shock, and I gulped at the familiar sound of the voice. I slowly raised my head to see Kai kneeling down on the floor, exaiming one of the photos in his hand.

He looked up at me, disgust and confusion evident in his eyes. "Well?"

I swallowed the huge lump in my throat.

"I can explain..."

----  
Epic cliffhanger, anyone?

Read and review, please.


	9. The Return Of The Bunny: Part 2

**Author: **Neiize****

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or anything else that brings in a sufficient amount of money, for that matter. What I do own is the story line and plot that go on in my story and the occasional OC, but that is all. I write for the sake of writing, and nothing more.**  
**  
**Warning: **Mild Swearing**  
**  
**Author's Notes: **I'm at a standstill as whether or not to continue this story. You'll know my decision soon enough. Just watch the summary.

Enjoy.

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_  
_He looked up at me, disgust and confusion evident in his eyes. "Well?"

I swallowed the huge lump in my throat.

"I can explain..."

There was a long pause, and the silence set in. I could feel my heart beating faster and faster, the tension and embarrassment catching up on me. My palms started to sweat, and I had to clench my teeth together to stop them from chattering.

"I'm waiting," Kai pressed, in an angry tone.

I sighed, and wiped the sweat from my forehead. Lying never does any good. I know _that_ much by now. Maybe if I actually could lie without making myself out to be one of those kids you see at the special section of a hospital drooling into a cup, I could try. There's only one thing I could possibly do now...

"I hated you," I stated, perfectly clear.

I looked up to see Kai's reaction. His face was still molded into a hard line. I pressed my hands together, taking another deep breath. A small spark of anger shot up my veins.

"I can't even begin to describe how much I hated you. Every better-than-you step, every stuck-up comment, every glare, every eye roll- it all just added to my initial hate for you. You were just so conceited and heartless; you never thanked anyone for anything, you never acknowledged anyone without being forced to, and you never even smiled."

I glanced up at Kai, to see he had the same frustrated face on. That just made me angrier.

"And you were always freakin' mad. For what? After the first million times we tried to talk to you, and maybe, oh I don't know, make friends, we decided to stop. Even after that, you still acted like a bastard. I just didn't understand you, and I never wanted to. Something inside me kept telling me not to get close to you the second I met you, and it was right. It was for the better," I paused for a second, not even caring enough to look up at Kai. I was too lost in my angry rant. "And really, where were you all the time?! If you weren't out on your own "personal business", you were either being an ass, or leaving us to join some other team, which was ALWAYS a half-hearted attempt. You _always_ came crawling back, and we _always_ welcomed you back with open arms. And when I say "we" I'm not involving myself in there."

"There's so much more I can say, but I'm stopping there. " I said through clenched teeth. I opened my eyes to see my fists clenched on my knees. I pried my fingers off slowly, wincing at pain. I didn't realize I had been squeezing them for so long.

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck with my nimble fingers. Damn, am I pissed. Just remembering his asshole-ish ways is working me up agai-

My eyes widened as I felt something pasty on back of my neck. I brought my hand forward to examine it.

Tomato sauce.

My anger disappeared and was replaced by a light laugh. I remembered Kai playfully pricking the back of my neck when we were making lasagna, and saying there was a fly there.

I smiled softly, looking back up to Kai. His face was hidden under his slate coloured bangs.

"You hated me?" He asked, his voice emotionless.

My smile sank, and I nodded. "Yeah,"

"As in past tense?"

My smile grew back. "As in past tense."

I averted my eyes from him, and took another deep breath. "You're a lot better now." When I didn't continue, Kai spoke up.

"That still doesn't explain the pictures," His tone was still emotionless.

"Right. About those..." I took a second to glance at one of the aforementioned pictures on the floor, and continued. "I really hated you. And one day after Tyson pissed you off again, I followed you after you went storming out of the house-"

Kai interrupted, outrage written on his face. "You fol-"

"Yeah, I followed you! I had reason to! When you're angry, it's like you're a blind bull! You have no idea what you're doing, but there's no doubt you'll permanently cripple someone in the process!"

His mouth immediately closed, and I took that as a sign to continue.

"I followed you until the forest, the same one we went to today. Then, the weirdest thing happened: you started cuddling. With a fricken' bunny!" I exclaimed, the shock evident in my voice. "Imagine yourself in my position: you see the biggest asshole you've ever known, cooing and petting a bunny. Of all things. A BUNNY! I mean, come on!" I yelled.

Kai's eyes were closed, and the corners of his lips were twitching.

"The first thing that popped into my mind was blackmail. It was absolutely perfect. You were a rich asshole who cared about nothing more than a good cup of coffee and his image. And I, being the poor Asain guy that I am, cared about nothing more than being able to be the only one of my kind to walk around with paper in my pocket that added up to being more than 5 dollars. Also, the fact that I hated you and that this would cause you some kind of suffering was a bonus." I sighed. The anger that was in my veins a few seconds ago was quickly being replaced with nervousness.

"So the plan was set. I was going to do it. But then, you decided to be all... normal. And to be honest, I started to like you. I just couldn't bring myself to do it." I stopped talking, not much left to say. I was too embarrassed to look up at Kai. I sat there for a good minute, complete awkwardness spreading in the air around us.

"That's about it." I finished.

"Let me get this straight," Kai started, his voice monotone. I didn't dare look up at him. "You wanted to blackmail me...Because you found me to be petting a rabbit...Odd?" Kai asked.

"Yes," I responded. I blinked a couple of times before looking up at him.

Complete shock flushed through my body.

He was smiling!

He took a step forward, before the smile turned into a grin. He covered his face with his hand, and started laughing.

Laughing.

THAT BASTARD IS LAUGHING!

"What in God's name are you laughing at?!" I exclaimed suddenly, outraged by his reaction.

His laughter only grew.

"You're kidding. You've got to be kidding! I nearly have an anger attack in front of you, and your response to this is to start howling like a hyena. And- What the,- GET UP, DAMN RUSSAIN!" I yelled as he fell onto his knees, howling with laughter while clutching onto his stomach.

"What the hell! This isn't funny!" I yelled as I stomped one foot on the ground.

"Ray, you... you... absolute...clueless...insolent..." He said, between laughs.

"What are you laughing at?!"

Kai took deep breathes, and composed himself. He had a smile on his face while he stood up. "Ray," He started with the smile, taking a final deep breath. "I've been an animal activist ever since I gained popularity in the athletic world. I've donated millions to organizations benefiting animals who have been victims of abuse, and have spoken and modeled for on behalf of People for Ethnic Treatment of Animals,"

I starred at him, totally baffled and confused.

Catching the confusion part of my stare, he added, "You might know them better as P.E.T.A?"

"So, Wh-What you're saying is," I managed to stutter, stunned. "I was doomed to start with,"

Kai tilted his head back a bit, in thought. He nodded a second after. "Completely and utterly doomed. Without a chance."

I shook my head wildly, running my shaking hands through my jet-black bangs. "I take it back; I hate you. As in, present tense." I clarified, as I sat onto the bed. Kai laughed- _again._

"Ooooooh! Ray said he hates Kai!"

"Oh no! Bitch fight!"

I groaned at the familiar voices of annoyance.

"Jackals," Kai stated simply.

"Hey Daichi, Tyson," I greeted followed by a tired sigh. Looks like they're home.

"You'll never guess what!" Daichi exclaimed, waiting for Kai and I to guess.

"You received a painful hemorrhoid while reigning havoc on Japan today?" Kai mocked in the same excited tone.

I smiled at Kai's remark. "What do you want to tell us, Daichi?"

"After we got the _you-know-what," _He said while shooting a glare at Kai, who reacted by flipping him off. "We went to this big warehouse store! And guess what we bought?"

"What?" I asked, humoring him.

He pulled both of his arms into the air, revealing the spray cans he was hiding behind his back. "SILLY STRING!"

"Bye." Kai said simply as he swiftly exited the room.

Exit Kai, stage right. Or left. I have no idea, actually. Which way is north? How do-

"Hey, Ray," Hillary greeted with a warm smile.

Normally, I would be pissed off at She-Beast. But, since this whole blackmailing fiasco is done and over without me having to loose any vital organs, I'll overlook it just this once. "Hey. How did shopping go?"

Hillary's facial features sank into a frustrated expression while she jabbed a thumb behind her. I leaned to the right to see Tyson spraying Silly String into Daichi's ear.

"Oh," I guess that answered my question.

"Kenny, Max, and Bird are downstairs. It's eight. Let's eat."

---

My eyes slowly pried open as I woke up from a dreamless sleep. I groaned while I scratched behind my ear. I turned around and dug my head sloppily into my pillow, forcing my droopy eyes closed.

It didn't help me get back to sleep.

I groaned very audibly, annoyed anger rushing through my veins on account of not being able to get back to sleep. After I laid in bed for more than fifteen minutes with no luck of falling back to sleep, I sighed in defeat and sat up on the bed.

Where the hell was Kai? 

I looked to my left, seeing that Kai wasn't in his bed. I cocked my head to the right to get a glance at the clock. Three O' eight, in the morning. And Kai isn't in his bed. And I'm being deprived of sleep. This situation here is great. Fan-freaking-tastic.

I hopped off the bed, dragging myself to the kitchen. Maybe a glass of water would help. Hey, why do people think that? Insomnia is a serious problem, and stuff that people shit in won't help solve it. Is there something in water that makes you drowsy or something? Aw man, I'm too freaking tired to argue with myself. Let's just assume there's drugs in water. Yeah, that'll do.

I grabbed a glass from a cabinet and pulled the pitcher of water out from the fridge. A sloppy yawn found it's way to my mouth while I poured myself the drink. I managed to drink it all in one breath, and placed the glass back in the sink. Now-

Hey, what was that?

I concentrated on the glass doors leading to the backyard, staring at a golden object , flickering in the distance. Nothing was ever there before. Curiously, I walked over to the screen door and flung it open.

I watched the familiar being in front of me place a marshmallow onto a stick, and hold it by a roaring fire. That must have been the golden thing I saw.

"Isn't it past your bed time?" Kai asked, still keeping his concentration on the snack in front of him.

I rolled my eyes, in no mood to argue. "Shut up and pass me a marshmallow,"

Kai smiled a bit while he threw the bag of aforementioned marshmallows at me. It didn't take me long to find a stick off the ground. I stuck it through my marshmallow and took a seat beside Kai, holding my white pastry by the flame.

"Is this a daily routine for you?" I asked, a little sarcasm evident in my voice.

"I woke up with a sudden craving for a cavity inducing substance," Kai said simply. "And here I am." He snuck a look at me from the corner from his eye. "What brings you here?"

"I couldn't get to sleep," 

"I see," Kai responded.

We stayed silent. The drowsiness from before was wearing off as I listened to the crackling of the fire and felt it's warmth on my skin. I took a deep breath and smiled, thankful for the tranquility. I peered one eye open to check on my marshmallow, but something a few meters away suddenly caught my eye.

"What's that?" I asked out loud.

Kai titled his head to look in my direction, and cocked an eyebrow. Without responding he stood up, marshmallow in hand, and walked over to pick up the small yet shiny white object we had seen laying on the floor.

He held it up and bit and sighed. "A button," He answered, utterly bored.

I snorted. "I'm sorry my observations aren't as exciting as they could be," I apologized sarcastically. "I should be at the best of my game at three thirty in the morning, without saying."

"Daylight or not, you're as sarcastic as always,"

"Oh, happy days," I responded. Kai glared.

"You're mood swings are incredible," Kai commented randomly. "One moment you're fighting yourself to keep your eyes open, and the next you're insulting someone for not being entertained because of spotting a button on the ground."

I rolled my eyes, a smile spreading onto my face. "Shut up!"

"Did you just demand me to shut up?"

"Why yes, I di- OW!" I cried, rubbing the back of my head, which was were Kai threw a big-ass bag of marshmallows directly at.

"Oops. My hand suddenly moved of it's accord," Kai said innocently, while looking at his right hand.

"It's funny how your vocabulary is that of a smart-ass's yet you sound like a two year old," I sneered.

"I find it quite entertaining how you sneer like a two year old and how your dialogue sounds like that of a two year old's. Oh wait. That's not funny," Kai smiled sweetly while taking a bite out of his marshmallow and swallowing. "That's just predictability."

"...Shut up!"

Kai sighed, and carried it out longer than he should have. "Must we do this again?"

I laughed as Kai took a seat beside me and started taking bites of his marshmallow, and I did the same.

I watched Kai as he sat down, and as the moonlight illuminated his features, I noticed something: Kai is a really good looking guy. Now that I think about it, I've never seen him with a girl before. To be honest, I don't think he's never once given a second glance to the millions of women who ogle him every time he takes a damn breath. Any other teenage boy would be humping said women's' legs. But then again, Kai isn't like any other teenage boy. And I don't mean that in a good way. Seriously, he talks like an old British man. Even with that con, he should be banging girls by the barrel full. I wonder...

"Hey, Kai?"

He glanced at me while chewing, and I took that as a sign to continue.

"Have you ever..." My first intention was to say "...Banged a chick before?", but knowing old men and their weak hearts, I decided to tone it down a bit. "...Fallen in love before?"

Kai swallowed the food in his mouth, and his eyes softened. "Fallen..." Kai murmured under his breath. "As in past tense?"

My eyes narrowed. "What the hell is up with you and tenses? I asked you if you've fallen in love and you ask if it's in past tense. When I said I hated you, you asked if it was in past tense. That's like me saying "We're going to the mall at 5", and then someone asking, "Five, as in later on today?". Every idiot in their right mind would be saying "Duh, captain dumbass.""

When Kai didn't respond with some kind of sarcastic remark, I snuck a peek at him. There was this look on his face, and I stopped eating to stare at him. His eyes were crinkled at the sides, and the corners of his mouth were turned down in a faint frown. His eyes were glazed and distant, and he stayed perfectly still.

Concern was evident in my voice. "Kai...?"

His expression stayed the same as he spoke. "Do you really..." He hesitated. "...hate me?"

My eyes widened and my mouth slightly fell open, taken by surprise by his reaction. "Is that why you look like someone just ran over your dog?"

His eyes widened at realization of something, and he turned his face away from me. I titled my head a bit to try to look at him. "Damn facial expression, you traitor..." he murmured in the same sad voice.

"What's wrong?" I tried again.

He sighed, and rubbed his face. "Do you hate me?" He repeated.

"Well no, not anymore," I said, keeping my gaze directly on him, being cautious with the words I chose. "Why does it even matter, if I do or don't?"

Kai ran his hand through his hair, and diverted his eyes from me. "I could deceive you right now and tell you it's because we're sharing a room, and I wouldn't want things to be discomfited between us,-"

I interrupted. "That's actually pretty good. You should stick with that," I encouraged, trying to get a laugh out of him.

No such luck. He ignored me and continued. "I'm a very vein person, Ray. I truly am. Though I do regard my appearance highly, I regard how people perceive me the same, if not higher than my visual aspect. I wouldn't be very concerned with it, but with you, It's a completely different matter..."

I looked at him, hoping the confusion on the inside would show on the outside. "How?"

"I-" He stopped mid sentence, paused, and started again. "I'm not going to mislead you, Ray. To be honest, I think of you very highly. Therefore, if you... Hate-" he flinched saying that world "-me, then I would not be a very paradisal person."

"Really? Cool," I responded, trying to figure out what the hell 'paradisal' meant. I noticed Kai smiling, and I in turn smiled too. 

"How, prey tell, is that "cool"?" he asked.

I realized that I what I said could be taken in two different ways. "No, I meant it's cool that you think so much of me. It's nice, you know?" I smiled a bit more noticeably. "When people like you, and when they tell you they like you, it just really makes you feel good inside. I think it's amazing that you like me that much, to care about my stupid little comments." I laughed a little, out of happiness. "I don't hate you Kai, and I regret ever thinking that. I was just being dumb. Thank you for thinking of me as a friend."

There was a small spark in my brain, when I added, "I'm sorry for using hate. The word, I mean. I know how you don't like it."

Kai looked at me from the corner of his eyes, surprise written on his face. "How did you..."

"Remember? A few days ago when we were talking about hate, and you said you don't hate anyone, because it's a very strong word?" I reminded.

"How in God's name did you remember that?" Kai asked, shocked.

I tapped my head with my index finger. "I've been eating a lot of eggs recently,"

He got the joke and smiled, but still averted his gaze from me. I sighed, giving up. But, not before adding, "For the record, I really like you too, Kai."

Kai nodded in acknowledgement, and ate the last bite of his marshmallow. I noticed his hand trembling for a second. It's probably the wind. Too damn cold these days.

Suddenly, a chilling howl of a wolf in the distance caused both of our heads to shoot up. I listened carefully, the sound slowly drifting away.

"What was that?" I asked in a whisper.

Kai smiled, but it was more to himself. "A signal of change," he whispered back.

"What?"

He shook his head and grinned. "Nothing."

----  
If anyone catches all of the multiple clues of foreshadowing in this chapter, I will truly be impressed...

Read and Review, please.


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